Cleveland Public Theatre to Present US Debut Of Hanoch Levin's REQUIEM

Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT) presents the U.S.A. premiere of Requiem by Hanoch Levin. Written by one of Israel's most beloved playwrights after a terminal diagnosis, Requiem dares to tackle the big questions of “life and death” with poetry, frankness, and a lot of humor. One old man embarks on a series of journeys to ward off death failing to see the life all around him amidst the colorful characters he encounters along the way—an old medic, two drunks, three cherubs, and two prostitutes who dream of moving to Paris.

This ground-breaking United States premiere production resets the play in an American landscape and stars Cleveland's renown actor and activist Peter Lawson Jones* in the central role along with a diverse cast of local artists.

Though not a musical, original music for the play will be scored by Cleveland Public Theatre's latest Kulas Foundation composer Ryan Charles Ramer.

Requiem is being sponsored with support by Cleveland Israel Arts Connection, a program of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland and Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Foundation.

“Ten years ago, I was introduced to the radical and wild plays of Hanoch Levin by Israel Wiener. The more I read Levin's work, the more it reminded me of the kinds of plays I saw at CPT years ago. Levin's sixty-three plays are wide-ranging and include a multitude of themes and styles. Some plays explore deep personal issues like grieving in experimental theatre forms. Others protest the Israeli government and militaristic tendencies in political satires. Others are philosophical, blending comedic and tragic scenes to explore the big questions of meaningfulness, life, and death.

Though Requiem is not politically oriented, it is about the fundamental human experience which I believe is inherently political. This is a play filled with humor and imagination that explores our humanity―the value of life, compassion, and the importance of living fully for each other and for ourselves. I feel honored to be the first director in the United States to professionally produce Requiem, not because it is one of Israel's most beloved plays by one of its most beloved playwrights, but because I am confident in the power of this script to make real, personal change to everyone who encounters it. I know I will be a different person on closing night than I am today because of the work of all the artists involved, and most centrally because of the brilliance of Hanoch Levin,“ said Executive Artistic Director Raymond Bobgan

Ensemble: Hosea Billingsley, Katie Boissoneault, Julia Boudiab, Peter Lawson Jones*, Brooke Lynlee, Nnamdi Okpala, Corin B. Self, Kat Shy, Yuval Tal, Anastasía Urozhaeva, Venetia Whatley, Eric Wloszek.

CREATIVE PRODUCTION TEAM: 

Producer and Director: Raymond Bobgan
Line Producer: Anastasía Urozhaeva
Stage Manager: Colleen McCaughey
Lighting and Projection Designer: Benjamin Gantose
Technical Director: Joshua Smith
Set Designer: Cameron Caley Michalak
Costume Designer: Suwatana (Pla) Rockland
Video Scenery Artist: Catherine Anne Pace
Composer and Music Director: Ryan Charles Ramer
Puppet Designer: Ian Petroni
Translators: Lee Nishri-Howitt and Leland Gregory Frankel

Ticket And Show Information

Tickets for Requiem at the button and range from $1 to $40 with no handling fees. Sunday matinees over Covid-Conscious performances where face coverings are required. Click here for COVID-19 Safety Protocols. Friday night performances offer Free Bev (as in Beverage Fridays) and the Opening Night celebration is Saturday, March 16th. Performances are at 7:30pm on Mondays, and Thursdays through Saturday, and Sunday performances are at 3pm.

The Gordon Square Theatre is ADA-compliant featuring a patron elevator and an all-gender, wheelchair accessible restroom.

About Raymond Bobgan

Raymond Bobgan creates new performances that are bold, multilayered, and highly physical through an ever-evolving ensemble process. Raymond's work has been seen in Romania, Brazil, Denmark, Serbia, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Canada, and has been featured in American Theatre magazine, Canadian Theatre Review, Theatre Journal, and in Lisa Wolford's book Grotowski's Objective Drama Research.

Raymond has created many works for CPT including Reverie Oracle, Dream Rust Workshop for CPT and Kennedy Center's Arts Across America; Frankenstein's Wake with Holly Holsinger; and Blue Sky Transmission: A Tibetan Book of the Dead, co-produced by CPT and La MaMa ETC (Off-Broadway). Raymond also was the overarching director and conceiver of The Elements Cycle a four-play series that focused on the environment and sustainability.

Raymond initiated the formation of Teatro Público de Cleveland, CPT's resident Latinx/a/o theatre company, Masrah Cleveland Al-Arabi, a group dedicated to creating and performing theatre from Arabic-speaking communities, and Station Hope, a community arts festival exploring contemporary issues of social justice. Raymond founded the Student Theatre Enrichment Program (STEP), a job-training theatre program for teens, and co-created the Y-Haven Theatre Project with James Levin, which engages formerly homeless men and women in writing and performing theatre.

Raymond was the first recipient of the Cleveland Arts Prize in the discipline of theatre. He is a two-time winner of the Creative Workforce Fellowship and a recipient of the Ohio Arts Council Fellowship. He is an alumnus of The National Theatre Artist Residency Program (Pew Charitable Trust and TCG).

Raymond has received the Cleveland's Transgender Day of Remembrance Cisgender Ally Award and Equality Ohio's Ally Award. In 2018, he was honored with the Cleveland Foundation's Homer C. Wadsworth Award and in 2017, his administrative leadership was recognized with The Governor's Award for the Arts in Ohio. In 2020 he was awarded the Father Frascati Neighborhood Champion Award by Northwest Neighborhoods.

Raymond was the president of the board of directors for the National New Play Network from 2018-2020. He has recently returned to the NNPN board and is co-chairing their Strategic Plan. The year 2023 marked completion of Raymond's maximum four terms of service on the board of Theatre Communications Group, the national service organization for professional theatres and the publisher of American Theatre magazine. Raymond also serves on the governing boards of Gordon Square Arts District Cleveland Improvement Corporation and North American Cultural Laboratory, and the Community Advisory Board for Ideastream.

This is Raymond Bobgan's 18th season leading Cleveland Public Theatre as executive artistic director.

About Hanoch Levin

Hanoch Levin, a renowned Israeli playwright, left an indelible mark on Hebrew culture with his prolific and diverse body of work spanning genres like comedies, tragedies, cabarets, short stories, poetry, and more. Born in 1943, he overcame early struggles in an impoverished family after his father's death, pursuing education while contributing to the family's support. Levin's writing journey started with poetry and satirical pieces, gaining momentum after the Six-Day War in 1967, when he critiqued Israel's response in the cabaret “You and Me and the Next War.”

Levin's plays, often laced with biting societal critique, grew in popularity, and he began directing them himself. His unique theatrical language and distinctive style earned him acclaim, especially for plays like “Execution,” “The Torments of Job,” and “The Great Whore of Babylon,” which combined horror, humor, and pathos. These works explored universal themes beyond local contexts, solidifying his status as a prominent Israeli playwright and director.

Despite his battle with cancer, Levin continued creating, and an initiative to publish his complete works led to the discovery of unpublished plays. He passed away in 1999, but his legacy endures through productions on Israeli stages and translations of his works in over 20 languages. Hanoch Levin's impact on global theater is steadily growing, positioning him among the world's finest playwrights.

About Peter Lawson Jones

Peter Lawson Jones is an attorney, business consultant, professional actor and master of ceremonies, dramatist and former elected official.

From February 2002, through December 2010, Jones, a graduate of Harvard College (magna cum laude in Government) and Harvard Law School, was a member of the Board of Cuyahoga County Commissioners, and its president for three of those years. He previously served two and one-half terms in the Ohio House of Representatives, where he was the ranking member of the House Finance and Appropriations Committee and second vice president of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus. Jones was formerly the Vice Mayor and a Councilman in the City of Shaker Heights, Ohio.

Jones is the executive producer of Fatherhood 101 a documentary on the critical importance of responsible fatherhood. He is a consultant in the areas of government relations, community engagement, event planning, fundraising, market development and fatherhood programming.

Jones, a member of SAG-AFTRA and Actor's Equity, can be seen in the Tom Hanks film, A Man Called Otto.  Jones has appeared in well over twenty films (White Boy Rick, Alex Cross, The Assassin's Code, Starve), on network television (NBC's Chicago Fire and ABC's Detroit 1-8-7), and on stages throughout Northeast Ohio. He received the 2016 Indie Gathering International Film Festival Best Ohio Supporting Actor Award for his work in How to Change the World.  Jones's newest play, The Phoenix Society, enjoyed its world premiere May, 2022, at Playwrights Local in Cleveland, Ohio.  His drama, The Bloodless Jungle, has enjoyed two full productions at The Ensemble Theatre in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and is set for another full production this fall at The King Arts Complex in Columbus, Ohio.  Land of Cleve, an arts and culture blog, ranked the second production as one of the best in Northeast Ohio in 2017. The play has enjoyed staged readings at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Dallas Convention Center, the National Black Theatre Festival, Duquesne University and in Harlem.  His first drama, The Family Line, has been successfully produced at Karamu House (Cleveland, Ohio), Harvard University and Ohio University.

About Cleveland Public Theatre

Cleveland Public Theatre has been at the forefront of new play development since 1981. Through four developmental programs, CPT serves local artists at every step of the creative process, from early ideas all the way to full productions and the entrepreneurial step of launching a new work.

With a national reputation for developing new plays and producing innovative interpretations of classic works, CPT has garnered praise for its work and received acknowledgement and recognition from The New York Times, American Theatre magazine, Theatre Journal, The Dramatists Guild, and Canadian Theatre Review. Shows created at CPT have toured to New Orleans, New York, Toronto, Minneapolis, Belgrade, the United Kingdom, and South Korea. CPT engagement programs have served as a model for similar programs in Turkey and Uzbekistan.

Most recently, CPT announced its participation in the newly formed The Future of American Theatre Cohort, which is being funded by a generous grant made by the Mellon Foundation.  The cohort includes four other small to mid-sized theaters across the United States that are dedicated to serving artists and patrons from BIPOC communities through play development, audience development and inexpensive tickets.

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