Joshua Sobol ( he, יהושע סובול; born 24 August 1939), is an Israeli playwright, writer, and

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

Biography

Joshua Sobol was born in

Tel Mond Tel Mond ( he, תֵּל מוֹנְד) is a town in the Sharon region of Israel, located east of Netanya and north of Kfar Saba. In it had a population of .. History Before the 20th century, the area of Tel Mond formed part of the Forest of Shar ...

. His mother's family fled the pogroms in Europe in 1922 and his father's family

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

from Poland in 1934 to escape the Nazis. Sobol is married to Edna, set and costume designer. They have a daughter, Neta, and a son, Yahli Sobol, a singer and writer. Sobol studied at the Sorbonne, Paris, and graduated with a diploma in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

Theatre career

Sobol's first play was performed in 1971 by the Municipal Theatre in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

, where Sobol worked from 1984 to 1988 as a playwright and later assistant artistic director. The performance of his play ''The Jerusalem Syndrome'', in January 1988, led to widespread protests, whereupon Sobol resigned from his post as artistic director. In 1983, after the Haifa production of his play ''Weininger's Night'' (The Soul of a Jew), he was invited to participate in the official part of the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh F ...

. Between 1983 and 1989 Sobol wrote three related plays: ''

Ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished ...

'', ''Adam'' and ''Underground'', which constitute together The Ghetto triptich. ''Ghetto'' premiered in Haifa in May 1984. It won the David's Harp award for best play. That year,

Peter Zadek Peter Zadek (; 19 May 1926 – 30 July 2009) was a German director of theatre, opera and film, a translator and a screenwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest directors in German-speaking theater. Biography Peter Zadek was born on 19 May ...

's German version of the play was chosen by ''Theatre Heute'' as best production and best foreign play of the year. It has since been translated into more than 20 languages and performed in more than 25 countries. Following

Nicholas Hytner Sir Nicholas Robert Hytner (; born 7 May 1956) is an English theatre director, film director, and film producer. He was previously the Artistic Director of London's National Theatre. His major successes as director include '' Miss Saigon'', ''T ...

's production of the English-language version by

David Lan David Lan is a South African-born British playwright, theatre producer and director and a social anthropologist. Career Born in Cape Town, he trained as an actor and gained a BA at the University of Cape Town. He has lived in London since 197 ...

at the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

of Great Britain in 1989, the play won the

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

and the London Critics award for Best Play of the Year and was nominated for the

Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known a ...

in the same category. It was coldly received in New York, however. In his review of the play in the New York Times,

Frank Rich Frank Hart Rich Jr. (born 1949) is an American essayist and liberal op-ed columnist, who held various positions within ''The New York Times'' from 1980 to 2011. He has also produced television series and documentaries for HBO. Rich is curren ...

described it as a "tedious stage treatment of the Holocaust."Sobol's Ghetto: A Holocaust Drama with Music
/ref> Since 1995, Sobol has collaborated with Viennese director

Paulus Manker Paulus Manker (born 25 January 1958) is an Austrian film director and actor, as well as an author and screenplay writer. Manker is considered one of the most maverick German-speaking actors, and polarizes public opinion like scarcely no other. H ...

on a number of projects exploring new forms of the theatrical experience. In 1995, ''Der Vater'' (The Father) a work by Niklas Frank and Joshua Sobol commissioned for the Wiener Festwochen (Vienna Festival) opened at the Theatre an der Wien under the direction of

. The play is about Niklas Frank's father,

Hans Frank Hans Michael Frank (23 May 1900 – 16 October 1946) was a German politician and lawyer who served as head of the General Government in Nazi-occupied Poland during the Second World War. Frank was an early member of the German Workers' Par ...

, who was

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

’s Governor general in Poland and was hanged in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

in 1946. In 1996, they created '' Alma'' for the Wiener Festwochen. ''Alma'' is a polydrama based on the life of Alma Mahler-Werfel. It played in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

for six successive seasons and toured to

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

, Los Angeles, Berlin,

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. In the Vienna production, the scenes of Alma’s life were performed simultaneously on all floors and in all rooms of a former Jugendstil sanatorium near Vienna. The guests were invited to abandon the immobilised position of ''spectator'' in a conventional drama, replace it with the mobile activity of ''traveller'', thus partaking in a "theatrical journey". By choosing the events, the path, and the person to follow after each event, each participant constructed her or his personal version of the "Polydrama". In 2000, Sobol and Manker created ''F@LCO – A CYBER SHOW'', a multimedia musical about the Austrian pop singer Falco. Staged in the former Varieté theatre Ronacher in Vienna, ''F@LCO'' offered the audience a choice between a more expensive, passive ticket for the boxes or the balconies, from which spectators could only watch the show from distance, or a cheap, "active" ticket on the floor, close to the rostrum (in the shape of @, the Internet ''at'' symbol) on which the show was performed. This position allowed the active spectator to move around during the show, dance and buy drinks at the bars installed under the catwalks.

Plays

*1971 THE DAYS TO COME – Haifa Municipal Theatre *1973 STATUS QUO VADIS – Haifa Municipal Theatre *1974 SYLVESTER 72 – Haifa Municipal Theatre *1975 THE JOKER – Haifa Municipal Theatre *1976 The Night of the Twentieth (Hebrew: ליל העשרים) Haifa Municipal Theatre *1976 NERVES – Haifa Municipal Theatre *1977 TENANTS – Haifa Municipal Theatre *1977 GOG & MAGOG SHOW – Zavta Cultural Club, Tel Aviv *1977 REPENTANCE – Zavta Cultural Club, Tel Aviv *1978 HOMEWARD ANGEL –

Habima The Habima Theatre ( he, תיאטרון הבימה ''Te'atron HaBima'', lit. "The Stage Theatre") is the national theatre of Israel and one of the first Hebrew language theatres. It is located in Habima Square in the center of Tel Aviv. Histor ...

*1979 WEDDING NIGHT – Habima *1980 THE LAST WORKER – Beit Leissin Theatre, Tel Aviv *1981 WARS OF THE JEWS –

Khan Theatre *1982 WEININGER'S NIGHT – Haifa Municipal Theatre *1984

GHETTO A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished ...

(Hebrew: גטו) Haifa Municipal Theatre; FREIE VOLKSBUHNE, Berlin *1984 PASODOBLE – Zavta Cultural Club, Tel Aviv *1985 PALESTINIAN GIRL – Haifa Municipal Theatre *1986 COUNTDOWN – Zavta Cultural Club, Tel Aviv *1987 Jerusalem Syndrome (Hebrew: סינדרום ישרולים) – Haifa Municipal Theatre *1989 ADAM – Habima *1991 UNDERGROUND – YALE REP. NEW HAVEN, USA *1991 SOLO – DE APPEL – THE HAGUE; Habima *1991 A&B –

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

*1991 EYE TO EYE –

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

(1994) *1992 RING TWICE – Royal National Theatre,

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

1997 *1993 NICE TONI –

Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus The is a theatre building and company in Düsseldorf. The present building with two major auditoria was designed by the architect and built between 1965 and 1969. It opened in 1970. History The theatre dates back to 1747 when during the ...

, June 1994 *1993 LOVE FOR A PENNY – ISRAELI YIDDISH THEATRE, 1994 *1993 SCHNEIDER AND SHUSTER – BASEL 1994; Gorki Theater, Berlin *1994 THE MASKED BALL – Haifa Municipal Theatre (2001) *1994 BLOODY NATHAN –

Volkstheater Wien The Volkstheater in Vienna (roughly translated as "People's Theatre") was founded in 1889 by request of the citizens of Vienna, amongst them the dramatist Ludwig Anzengruber and the furniture manufacturer Thonet, in order to offer a popular coun ...

, Vienna, 1996 *1995 THE FATHER Wiener Festwochen, 1995. *1995 VILLAGE – Gesher Theatre, Tel Aviv (February 1996) *1996 ALMA – Vienna Festival Week,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

(1996) *1996 Honey (Hebrew: דבש) Haifa Municipal Theatre (1997) *1997 MA NI MA MAMA – Zavta Cultural Club, Tel Aviv, Festival of One Act Plays 97. *1997 HOME CINEMA Not yet produced *1998 Strangers (Hebrew: זרים) Habima (1999) *1999 FALCO RONACHER THEATER, Vienna, April 1, 2000 *1999 LA TORANA (Not yet produced) *2000 Gebirtig (Hebrew: גבירטיג) based on

Mordechai Gebirtig Mordechai Gebirtig ( yi, מרדכי געבירטיג), born Mordecai Bertig (4 May 1877 – 4 June 1942), was an influential Polish poet and songwriter of the interwar period. He was shot by Germans in the Kraków Ghetto, occupied Poland, during ...

– Yiddishpiel (2000) *2000 17 TOP COMPAGNIETHEATER,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

2002 *2001 CROCODILES

Herzliya Herzliya ( ; he, הֶרְצְלִיָּה ; ar, هرتسليا, Hirtsiliyā) is an affluent city in the central coast of Israel, at the northern part of the Tel Aviv District, known for its robust start-up and entrepreneurial culture. In i ...

Theatre (November 2001) *2002 HOMELESS BEN GURION *2002 iWitness (Hebrew: עד ראייה; lit. "eyewitness") based on the story of

Franz Jägerstätter Franz Jägerstätter, O.F.S. (also spelled Jaegerstaetter in English; born Franz Huber, 20 May 1907 – 9 August 1943) was an Austrian conscientious objector during World War II. Jägerstätter was sentenced to death and executed for his refus ...

–

Cameri Theater The Cameri Theater ( he, התיאטרון הקאמרי, ''HaTeatron HaKameri''), established in 1944 in Tel Aviv, is one of the leading theaters in Israel, and is housed at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center. History The Cameri theater was found ...

(2002) *2002 REAL TIME

Directing

*GHETTO in Essen and Bremen, Germany *GOLDBERG VARIATIONS, by George Tabori, Dortmund, Germany, 1993 *ADAM – in Manheim, Germany, 1993. *SCHNEIDER AND SHUSTER – Basel Theatre, Switzerland, 1994 *NICE TONI – The Khan & The Jerusalem Theatre, September 1994 *GHETTO – Hartke Theatre, Washington D.C., 1995 *GENS comprehensive version of the Ghetto Triptych– Weimar 1995 *GHETTO – Haifa Municipal Theatre, January 1998 *ALMA – Cameri Theatre, Tel Aviv, December 1998 *GHETTO – Wesleyan University Theatre, November 2000 *THE MERCHANT OF VENICE – Illinois Shakespeare Festival. 2002

Teaching

*1972–84 Actors Training School, Seminar Hakibutzim – Lecturer on Aesthetics *1972–84 Beit Zvi Actors Training School – Workshop Director: Writing Drama *1995–2002

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

– Workshop Director: Writing Drama *1997–98

Ben Gurion University Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) ( he, אוניברסיטת בן-גוריון בנגב, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has five campuses: the ...

, Beer Sheva – Lectures on Drama; Workshop: Writing Drama *1996–99 Sam Spiegel Film & TV School, Jerusalem – Script Writing Workshop *2000

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...

, Connecticut, USA – Documentary drama *2001 Tel Aviv University, Department of Literature – Lectures on Modern and contemporary Theatre *2001–02 *2003

Bezalel In Exodus 31:1-6 and chapters 36 to 39, Bezalel, Bezaleel, or Betzalel ( he, בְּצַלְאֵל, ''Bəṣalʼēl''), was the chief artisan of the Tabernacle and was in charge of building the Ark of the Covenant, assisted by Oholiab. The se ...

School of Architecture – Ethics and Art *Ben Gurion University Beer Sheva *2012

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seatt ...

– Guest Faculty: Playwriting

Published works

(partial list) *2000 Silence– A Novel – published by The New Library, Tel Aviv *2001 Schweigen (Silence) – Published by Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Munich *2002 The Masked Ball – play (Hebrew) – Published by Or – Am, Tel Aviv *2002 Swijgen (Silence) – Published by Byblos, Amsterdam *1999 Alma – play (Hebrew) – Published by Or – Am, Tel Aviv *1998 Alma – play (German) – Published by Paulus Manker, Vienna *1998 Palestinian Girl (English) – Published by Loki Books, London *1996 Village – play (Hebrew) – Published by Or – Am, Tel Aviv *1994 Solo – play (French & English) – Published by Cierec, Saint Etienne *1991 Solo – play (Hebrew) – Published by Or – Am, Tel Aviv *1991 Weininger's Night – play – Published by Cahiers Bernard Lazare, Paris *1990 Underground – play (Hebrew) – Published by Or – Am, Tel Aviv *1990 Night of the 20th – play (Hebrew) – Published by Or – Am, Tel Aviv *1989 Adam – play (Hebrew) – Published by Or – Am, Tel Aviv *1989 Ghetto – play (English) – Published by Nick Hern Books, London *1988 Weiningers Nacht - play (German) – Published by Paulus Manker, Vienna *1987 The Jerusalem Syndrome – play (Hebrew) – Published by Or – Am, Tel Aviv *1985 The Palestinian Girl – play (Hebrew) – Published by Or – Am, Tel Aviv *1984 Ghetto – play (Hebrew) – Published by Or – Am, Tel Aviv *1982 Soul of a Jew – play (Hebrew) – Published by Or – Am, Tel Aviv *1976 Night of the Twentieth – play, (Hebrew) – Published by Proza, Tel Aviv

Awards

* 1976 – NIGHT OF THE TWENTIETH – David's Harp Award – Best Play of the Year * 1976 – NIGHT OF THE TWENTIETH – David Pinski Award * 1979 HOMEWARDS ANGEL – David's Harp Award – Israel's Best Play of the Year * 1980 THE LAST WORKER – David's Harp Award – Israel's Best Play of the year * 1982 WEININGER’S NIGHT – David's Harp Award – Israel's Best Play of the Year * 1983 WEININGER’S NIGHT – Meskin Award for Best Play of the Year * 1984 GHETTO – David's Harp Award – Israel's Best Play of the Year * 1985 GHETTO – Theater Heute German Critics’ Choice – Best Foreign Play * 1986 THE PALESTINIAN GIRL – Issam Sirtawi Award * 1989 GHETTO – The Evening Standard award for Best Play of the Year. London * 1989 GHETTO –

Critics' Circle Theatre Awards The Critics' Circle Theatre Awards, originally called ''Drama'' Theatre Awards up to 1990, are British theatrical awards presented annually for the closing year's theatrical achievements. The winners, from theatre throughout the United Kingdom, ar ...

– Best New Play * 1990 GHETTO – Laurence Olivier Awards – Award Nomination – Best Play * 1995 GHETTO – Mainichi Art Prize – Best play of the year – Tokyo, Japan * 1996 GHETTO – Yumiuri Shimbun Grand Prize best play of the year, Tokyo, Japan * 1996 GHETTO – Yoshiko Yuasa Prize – Best play of the year. Tokyo, Japan * 2001 SILENCE – Sapir Award Nomination – Best Novel of the Year

References

External links

*
Biographical notes on the ALMA website
Text of this site served for the basic Wikipedia entry, done with permission of Joshua Sobol and Paulus Manker.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sobol, Joshua 1939 births Israeli male dramatists and playwrights Living people Jewish dramatists and playwrights People from Tel Mond University of Paris alumni Wesleyan University faculty Israeli theatre directors Oranim Academic College alumni Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent