The Jaffa Theater celebrates its 25th anniversary: ​​”a unique model for shared life”

The Jaffa Theater will mark 25 years of activity during the week of Arab-Jewish shows. In its 25 years, the theater has produced more than 80 bilingual plays that are accessible to both audiences.

“The constant conflict between Jews and Arabs in our land creates a challenge to the idea of ​​a shared society,” says Yigal Ezrati, the founder, CEO and artistic director of the theater. “Jaffa as a mixed city produces itself, for many reasons, cultural segregation. Our theater has set itself the goal of bringing cultures together and looking for common ground while respecting each other’s differences.”

Yigal Ezrati: “Jaffa as a mixed city produces by itself, for many reasons, cultural segregation” (Photo: Public Relations)

According to him, in the theater Jews and Arabs work in full and equal partnership “in joint creation and dealing with questions of society, identity and place and as a result constitutes a unique model for living together”.

Among the most prominent and successful shows and performances of the theater over the years can be named ‘Om Kulthum’ starring Galit Giat; ‘Jaffa nights – the evening they dance’; ‘Butterfly’ and the new version of ‘Queen of Bath’ that came out last year performed by actors from the Arab sector.

To mark the 25 years of the theater’s activity, this week the plays ‘Nostalgia’ – a new version of the play that won the Israeli Theater Award that deals with exile, longing and identity games – will be staged; An evening of tribute to Eldor – co-founder and co-artistic director of the Jaffa Theater, winner of the 2024 AM Lifetime Achievement Award; a new joint spoken word stand-up show by creators Noam Shuster Eliasi and Samira Sariya, and a special project “When the Earth is Loud” – a collage of scenes by 8 Arab and Jewish writers following the situation.

From the play When the Earth is Loud (Photo: Rauda Saliman)

The theater also continues to perform throughout Israel and the world and maintains a model of conversation with the actors after the performances in which the Arab and Jewish audiences have the opportunity to meet, not as part of a political debate but as part of an experiential workshop. “It leads to knowing the other and to empathy and to a reduction in hostility and racism,” Ezrati says. “It contributes greatly to strengthening tolerance and the hope for a common democratic-liberal-humane society.”