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March 2, 2007
Rising from historical remains
The Khan Theatre marks 40 years of life alongside its funder,
the Jerusalem Foundation.
WENDY ELLIMAN ISRAEL PRESS SERVICE
There are two dozen men and women gathered. Some are seated, some
doodle, others pace. They are there to brainstorm, and the atmosphere
is electric with ideas. A tall man suddenly breaks into an improvisation
to illustrate his point. Two people co-opt a third in a brief theatre
game to emphasize their view. Ideas are seized, examined, expanded
or discarded.
This is a rehearsal in progress at the Khan Theatre in Jerusalem.
The play, as yet, has no name. Nor does it have a set, costumes
or lighting. In fact, it doesn't even have a script. But the core
ensemble of 22 actors, led by playwright and artistic director Michael
Gurevich, are implementing, once again, the prize-winning dramatic
formula they have developed. They have won a string of awards –
for direction, acting, translation, choreography, costume-design
and lighting and, most recently, Israel's prestigious Emet Prize.
"Our rehearsals take longer than the traditional kind, but
the creative teamwork we use is our path to new dramatic solutions,"
said Gurevich. "It's this which enables us to generate unique
and vivid productions."
Their unorthodox approach fits seamlessly with the Khan Theatre's
unorthodox setting. Its permanent stage is an early 19th-century
inn which, once the pilgrims left, was successively used as a beer
cellar, a carpentry workshop and an ammunitions dump. Surviving
both the Jordanian guns of June 1967 and scheduled demolition thereafter,
it was renovated into Jerusalem's only creative repertory theatre,
the first significant cultural project of then-mayor Teddy Kollek's
newly formed Jerusalem Foundation.
"The Khan is now celebrating its 40th anniversary – as,
of course, is the foundation," said Yaki Har-Tal, today director
of the Khan and, previously, for 25 years, deputy director of the
Jerusalem Foundation. "Its reputation is as one of the best
theatres in Israel, consistently producing thought-provoking and
high-quality performances."
Restoring the crumbling Khan of 1967 fitted with Kollek's vision
of giving new cultural content to Jerusalem's ancient buildings.
With money from the Gestetner Family Fund, the old inn was renovated
into a modern theatre. Its picturesque arches and courtyards were
preserved, while 230 seats and the computerized sound-and-light
systems of a modern theatre were inconspicuously added.
The restored building, according to Har-Tal, has helped create a
theatre-going experience for Jerusalemites characterized by direct
contact with the audience and interaction with the community.
"There's a unique and intimate atmosphere between audience
and acting ensemble at the Khan," he said. "The physical
setting and the close bonds between director, playwright and actors
combine into a personal and direct relationship with audiences."
Audiences comprise most groups from Jerusalem's confusion of cultures
and, with the help of the Jerusalem Foundation, the theatre also
reaches out to specific populations.
"We subsidize workshops, theatre days and performances for
schools, for the elderly and for special needs populations,"
said Danny Mimran, Jerusalem Foundation director and a member of
the Khan's board. "We also support lectures, workshops, poetry
readings, seminars, panel discussions and meetings with playwrights
and actors for the public. In this way, the Khan brings the community
closer to the theatre world and to the messages of its plays. We're
delighted that it has become not only one of the highest quality
theatres in Israel, but also a community institution."
If there has long been cause for pleasure on the artistic level,
the economic level, too, is at last providing the same. Long plagued
by financial problems, the Khan has for the past four years balanced
its budget for the first time since its opening 40 years ago, Har-Tal
explained with obvious satisfaction.
"As much as the theatre was known for acclaimed productions,
it was also known for its debts," he said. "In the past
few years, however, we've found the right balance between the size
of the company (18 to 22 actors), the number of annual productions
(three or four) and the economic potential of our public."
While the theatre won't be free from the economic knife-edge until
it clears its debts in four years' time, it's now generating an
annual surplus with which to pay off the accumulated deficits. "While
commercial considerations take second place to the artistic in our
productions, we're obviously happy when they can be combined, and
when we have a lucrative hit on our hands - as we've had this year
with The Winners,"said Har-Tal.
The popularity of The Winners, a satire co-adapted by Gurevich,
was unexpected. It is itself about an impoverished theatre that
has experienced countless financial flops and decides it is time
for a hit that will earn money and popularity. For its comeback,
the theatre plans a musical about Israel – but clashes instead
with Israel's impossible reality.
Another acclaimed Khan production is Town of the Little People,
based on a collection of Sholem Aleichem's stories. Its theme is
social and national displacement, exile and bereavement, as it examines
the remembering and forgetting of Jewish culture that is first destroyed
in the Holocaust and then buried with the realization of Zionism.
Plays like these are performed at the Khan alongside works by Agnon
and Shakespeare, Jean Anouilh and Howard Barker, as well as original
Israeli works (some written especially for the company) and translated
evergreens, such as plays by Ibsen, Chekov and Pirandello. Gurevitch
writes many of the Khan productions and selects all those performed,
giving each the Khan ensemble's individual spin.
"We're a different kind of theatre," he said. "We
maintain our own particular identity. This is expressed in what
we perform and how we perform it."
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