Review: HALFON 6 'SO CALLED' MUSICAL from Incubator Theatre

Statistics say that you're probably reading this review on your smartphone, and if you're not it's currently located very close to you. To tackle this modern issue of our addiction to smartphones which have taken over our lives, the multitalented duo Guy Amir and Hanan Savion decided to go back to their theatre roots and created the original comedy "Halfon 6 - A'alek [so called] musical" for the Incubator Theatre, directed by the theatre's director Arik Eshaet.

The hero of the story is Regev Gonen, played by Guy Amir, who lives in a small apartment in central Israel with his girlfriend Dikla, played by Yael Sztulman. When one day a tragedy hits Regev as his phone falls into the toilet he is tempted to upgrade it to the best and newest model in the market- Halfon 6, a human-like smartphone played by Hanan Savion. This original plot could not be any more relevant these days, especially when despite a very convincing pre show announcement in the theatre regarding mobile phone usage during the play did not work well as lights from many small screens emerged from the audience seats throughout the evening.
Many related topics are approached in the show in a smart and creative way, from the annoying mobile companies customer support, to dating apps, mobile payments, lack of privacy and more, but when taking on such a problematic subject so much more can be addressed as it feels as though the goal of the show to approach the issue of this addiction was missed and ultimately only part of the problem was discussed. Despite that, the show is clever, fun and refreshing, and once you understand the kind of humor presented in it you can't stop smiling and you're guaranteed to have a good time, especially with its small but promising cast.

Even those who don't know of the vast collaboration between the creators Amir and Savion, who also created some of the country's biggest television shows in the past decade, could easily see how great they work together both off and on stage. As Guy Amir presents a harmless character with lots of joy and pride in his eyes as well as a surprisingly delightful singing voice, Hanan Savion completes him with his most impressive acting range and incredible singing voice and dancing skills. Though not much needs to be added to these two for a great play, with a beautiful singing voice the lovely Yael Sztulman joins them and displays lots of optimism and hope through her fun character, for which she fits very well. Additionally, Rotem Blotnick plays multiple characters and though at times her enunciation makes it difficult to understand her lines she makes up for it by transforming flowingly between all the characters she portrays.

With only a few songs throughout the show, the title's reduction of it being a musical is appropriate, and accordingly director Arik Eshaet made it evident that the show isn't a true musical, as it simply has some singing and dancing in it, and he did so in a way that highlights the show's idea and qualities. Helping him are set designer Alona Vainshtein, who uses a single setting in a modest and sensible way for such a show, and costumes designer Hen Hod, who brought the cellular world to life with original and yet simple designs.
This comedy is yet another great reminder of the wonderful productions that the Incubator Theatre keeps creating and in simply one hour and a half- just as the slogan of the cellular company in the show says, with the power of theatre it's "connecting people, just because we [they] care".

Photo Credit: Bella Shahar Hillel.