Review: LOVE OF DEATH Breathes Life at Beit Lessin Theatre

It has been over 25 years since the late great playwright Anat Gov has written the play Love of Death as a result of both her parents dying of cancer. Today, a little over four years since she passed away from cancer, Beit Lessin's production of the play at the ZOA House in Tel Aviv is tragically fresh and relevant as ever.

Mira, a married woman with three children, meets death one day and as he disappears without taking her she searches to find him again and reaches a world of new and exciting acquaintanceships in no other place than a hospice. Described as a black comedy, this play might begin with the frequently told story line of someone meeting death, but it is nothing like any other story that was ever written thanks to Gov's smart, original, sharp and realistic writing. Above that, her humor is so subtle and precise that it somehow manages to avoid the dark aspect of such a genre.

Adding to this feeling are the incredible members of the cast as well as director Gilad Kimchi who together present this story in the natural and simple realism that it should. Every sentence in the play was said in the most natural and real way, especially as each of the actors is as talented as the other. Starting with the residents of the hospice, Liron Baranes as Shlomi, Sandra Schonwald as Rachel and Yaakov Daniel as Youseff, and their nurse Limor, played by Noa Biron, who all have a great connection on stage as the kind of family that they become in such a place, while each of them still tells their character's story as if it truly were their own. Joining their special kind of family is Lilian Barreto, as Mira, who takes such a role that could easily be performed too dramatically and does justice to it by being graceful, real and natural. The only two words in the entire play that didn't fall under these characteristics, whether due to direction or acting choices, were Mira's final two words that if only they were said peacefully or at least calmer, this entire production would have been nothing less than perfect.

Not only is the play itself fresh and new, even without the hilarious and surprising mentioning of recent events in it, but the entire setting of it truly contributes to such a feeling. This includes Eran Atzmon's modern set design, Amir Lekner's beautifully fitting music and Avi Yona Bueno's lighting design, all together bringing significant contributions to this memorable production.

In her last, very unique, interview before she passed away, Anat Gov said in 2012: "... I think that life is much more powerful when you live it this way than when you are frightened by everything... Because when you are afraid, you are afraid to fly, you are afraid to walk, you are afraid of cockroaches, you're afraid of this... because it is all fear of death. All the fears. When you are not afraid to die you are not afraid to live because what have you got to lose?". Even though the play was written many years ago it's both heartbreaking and beautiful to know that Gov took her words into action in her own life and especially brought her message to the world with such an extraordinary play.