Israeli Stage Sets 2015-16 Season, Featuring All Female Playwrights

Israeli Stage, sharing the diversity and vitality of Israeli culture through theatre, is proud to announce Season 6 - an entire season of works written by Female Playwrights! Board President Dalia Cahana-Amitay says, "This upcoming season we are thrilled to introduce to our audiences the outstanding works of female playwrights, who present a new, less known female voice of Israeli culture." The season will feature Israeli Stage's Second Full Theatrical Production - Anat Gov's Oh God, Hanna Azulay Hasafri: In Residence at Israeli Stage and three new plays presented as Staged Readings.

"Israeli Stage is the best Ambassador of Israeli culture in the United States," says Award-Winning Playwright Savyon Liebrecht. "As a counter balance to newsreels, it depicts the inner existence and the psyche of Israelis, presenting a complex and nuanced image of what life in Israel is really like."

"Israeli Stage is doing work that no one else in Boston is doing, bringing new and fresh works from playwrights of a completely different culture," says Actress Maureen Keiller. "It is so important for us to be exposed to new voices, to be aware of struggles in the world that are not our own. And to realize that though our life experiences may differ, we all have a common thread of humanity. I am thrilled to be a part of a company that recognizes the importance of the world being one and using art to illustrate that."

Veteran Actor Will Lyman, who will be playing the role of God, says the uniqueness of Israeli Stage is its audience; "They're astute, they are not only ready to be captivated emotionally, but they are ready to be captivated intellectually and it's a great combination."

Oh God has had a long history with Israeli Stage; the piece was presented as a Staged Reading in September 2013 and has since then toured to over 25 locations in 6 states. In this witty, poignant and touching play, a psychotherapist named Ella, single mother of an autistic child, gets a visit from a new, desperate patient, God.

"Will Lyman and I have been touring readings of Oh God with Guy Ben-Aharon for two years now," says Keiller, "and the audience response is always overwhelmingly positive. People are genuinely moved by this piece and many have told me that the play stays with them and creates dialogue about religion and the nature of God long after they have seen it. As artists, that is the best that we can hope for our audiences."

Oh God by Anat Gov | April 14 - 30, 2016 |Arsenal Center for the Arts Black Box | Tickets: $35

Following the success of Gilad Evron's and Savyon Liebrecht's In Residence at Israeli Stage programs, in March 2016, Israeli Stage will be hosting Award-Winning Playwright and Actress Hanna Azulay Hasafri for two-week residency, touring colleges with a brand new play that will be work-shopped in Boston as well as partnering with academic communities to host Hanna for lectures, seminar and symposiums.

Three Staged Readings of Israeli Plays will be premiered, followed by tours across the East Coast

The Strawberry Girl by Savyon Liebrecht | September 20 at 7PM | 170 Beacon Street, Boston's Back Bay

A German woman and her son Ludwig live in Poland, where her husband works at a "factory." Their lives change after she meets a Jewish girl who grows strawberries, as big as a man's fist. The play deals with the confrontation of blissful ignorance and a tragic personal intimacy. The one-woman show will feature Nancy E. Carroll*.

Price Tag by Alma Weich | November 15 at 7PM | 170 Beacon Street, Boston's Back Bay

A Modern Tragedy inspired by the Biblical story of Eli the High Priest of Shiloh and his corrupted sons. Price Tag follows the story of Hopni, a radical right-winger who is in jail for executing a terrorist attack, and his father, Eli, a Senior Member of the Israeli Parliament. The play will feature Craig Mathers*, Pat Shea*, among others.

Happy Ending by Anat Gov | April 18 at 7PM| Arsenal Center for the Arts Black Box

Guy Ben-Aharon (Producing Artistic Director) was born in Israel, founded Israeli Stage, an initiative dedicated to sharing the vitality and diversity of Israeli culture. After the success of Israeli Stage, Guy was asked by the Goethe-Institut Boston to develop German Stage, by swissnexBoston to develop Swiss Stage and Austrian Stage for the Austrian Cultural Forum New York. His dedication to international theatre has resulted in tours throughout the East Coast from Toronto to Atlanta. A proud Emerson College alum, Guy lives in Bay Village.

Maureen Keiller* (Actor, Oh God) Boston credits: Come Back, Little Sheba (Huntington Theatre Company). Into the Woods, 33 Variations, Big River, The Life and Times of Nicholas Nickleby, Speech and Debate (Lyric Stage). The Whale, Nine, Reckless, The Little Dog Laughed, Almost Maine, The Women, The Wild Party (SpeakEasy Stage). A Streetcar Named Desire (New Rep). The Sweetest Swing in Baseball (Boston Theatre Works). Car Talk:The Musical!!! (Central Square Theatre). Film and television: Spotlight (with Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo), My Best Friend's Girl, Fever Pitch, Olive Kitteridge (HBO), The Makeover (ABC Hallmark) and Brotherhood (Showtime). Maureen is a proud member of Actors' Equity and SAG/AFTRA. All thanks to Guy and Will.

Will Lyman* (Actor, Oh God) has, for the last several years, worked almost exclusively in the Boston theater community and has been consistently well received by critics and audiences alike. Boston appearances: The Huntington, New Rep, SpeakEasy, Wheelock, Boston Playwrights' Theatre and the Nora Theatre. He is a recipient of both Elliot Norton and IRNE Awards. Film: A Perfect Murder, The Siege, Welcome to the Dollhouse, Mystic River, the narrator in Little Children, and What Doesn't Kill You. For the past 29 years, Will has been the narrator for the critically acclaimed series Frontline on PBS. On a more whimsical note, he also voices the long-running "Most Interesting Man in the World" ads. Will is a Boston University alum and lives in Jamaica Plain. Israeli Stage: Readings of Oh God, Dear Sigmund and Carl, and Ulysses on Bottles; Full Production of Ulysses on Bottles.

Anat Gov (Playwright, Oh God & Happy Ending) passed away in December 2012 after a long battle with cancer, leaving a significant imprint on Israeli theatre with six plays: Best Friends, Lysistrata, Househusband, Oh, God, A Warm Family and Happy Ending.

Hanna Azulay Hasafri (Playwright in Residence) is an actress, playwright, screenwriter, social activist & artist. For the past 25 years, Hanna has appeared as a leading actress on stage and on camera in TV & film, garnering two "Best Actress" awards by the Israeli Film Academy, a "Best Actress" award by the Jerusalem Festival, and a "Critics Award for Best Actress" at the Jerusalem Festival. Hanna wrote and acted in "Sh'chur," a film that won the "Best Film Award" at the Israeli Film Academy, a "Special Notice Award" at the Berlin Film Festival, the First Prize Winner at the San Sebastian Festival and "Best Script" at the Troja Film Festival. As a playwright, Hanna has written the Betulot Shiduch, Slihot and Mimuna. Hanna is among the founders of "The Democratic Sephardic Rainbow Coalition," a political activism movement focused on improving Sephardic rights.

ABOUT ISRAELI STAGE

Since its Inaugural Season in 2010-11, Israeli Stage has produced eighteen plays in translation, exposing American audiences across seven states to New England, American, and World Premieres. In March 2012, Israeli Stage launched its first tour of the play Apples from the Desert that visited half-dozen universities, and has since toured extensively throughout New England (and Georgia) to over forty venues, including twenty-five academic institutions. Israeli Stage has been profiled in The Boston Globe, The Improper Bostonian, The International Herald Tribune, Ha'aretz and Yediot America for the unique work they do to build cultural bridges between the United States and Israel. For more information, visit IsraeliStage.com