Iconic Gesher Theater to launch N. American tour
Tel Aviv’s Gesher Theater, founded by director Yevgeny Arye, will return to the US and Canada with productions of The Dybbuk and In The Tunnel as part of its North American tour in honor of Israel’s 70th birthday.
The productions will visit New York City, Toronto, and Pittsburgh with performances this month and in October.
The Gesher troupe, one of the largest in the history of Gesher Theater, includes more than 50 cast and crew – among them Arye, director general Lena Kreindlin and playwright Roy Chen.
“I believe both productions help capture the Israeli-Jewish experience nowadays, offering a glimpse into Jewish traditions, as well as to the current Israeli culture and society,” said Kreindlin. “Whereas In the Tunnel discusses in a comical and satirical manner the relationship between politics, media and war, The Dybbuk gives life – with a modern twist – to one of the most well-known stories in the Jewish mythology.”
This American tour was made possible with the support of the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Genesis Philanthropy Group (GPG).
GPG president and CEO Ilia Salita said, “The remarkable journey of the Gesher Theater has become an important chapter in the story of the Russian-Jewish experience and a critical contribution to the cultural treasury of the Jewish people worldwide. We are happy to help bring Gesher’s performances to North America and hope that it will allow audiences to further explore their own Jewish journeys as well as to foster closer connections to Israel and its contemporary culture.”
The Gesher Theater was founded in 1991 by Arye and a troupe of Soviet Jewish actors, who in pursuit of artistic freedom, immigrated to Israel from Moscow. In its early days, the theater served as one of the few bilingual theaters in the world, staging every play both in Hebrew and Russian. Today, the Gesher Theater performs solely in Hebrew, while still maintaining its close ties with Russian culture and heritage.