Israeli goes from bar to back-stage in hit play
THERE IS a moment in JT Rogers’s play Oslo where two characters break into Hebrew as they mutter about how to proceed in the delicate negotiations that formed the 1993 Oslo Accords.
Responsible for ensuring accuracy in the dialogue is Liron Shekel.
Born and brought up in Ra’anana, Liron first visited London with her family when she was 12, fell in love with the city and announced her intention to one day move to Britain.
The family didn’t take her seriously, but after completing two degrees in Israel, Liron, now in her 20s, took off for London hoping to find a job in theatre or cinema. She ended up working as a waitress in a restaurant owned by the National Theatre, before moving to serving in the NT bar and then ushering or front-of-house duties.
“One day a woman who I regularly spoke to turned out to be involved in production management.” Liron was given the opportunity to work in stage management on a National Theatre project to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme.
Liron was almost certainly the only Israeli working full-time at the National Theatre when staff were told Oslo was
coming, fresh from its Broadway success. But her father fell ill and Liron flew back to Israel. She was asked if she would help with the Hebrew dialogue and after her father’s death sent actors recordings on pronunciation while still in Israel.
“When I got back, I found one of the actors was still struggling, so I sat with him and coached him on how best to deliver the Hebrew.”
It worked: audience members were impressed with how authentic the actors sound. But for Liron, voice coaching is not her route into the theatre. She has written two plays and says she is very much influenced by Harold Pinter.