Orto-Da Theatre Group Presents Sculpture Drama STONES Plus THE MANSERVANTS

Orto-Da Theatre Group presents Two Very Special Productions

Stones
Monday, Feb. 20, 20:30 and Monday, Mar. 6, 20:30 - at Tzavta theatre and cultural center, Tel Aviv.

The show "Stones" is inspired by "The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Monument" by Nathan Rapoport (1911-1987). It is performed, without talking, by six actors who sculpture the monument with their bodies and bring life to it in order to face humanity in its eye in its current time.

This is a poetic visual, exciting, chilling, moving and hilarious journey between the present and the past, between reality and dream. By means of subtle acting, a unique soundtrack & original visual metaphors Orto-Da Group creates a new theatrical language which unrolls the story of the spirit's victory. A show where laughter dances with sweet sadness, ugliness turns to beauty and the present flirts with the past and proves that the theatre and human imagination have the power to color man's dark side with brightness of hope.

The monument is a part of the Wall of Remembrance at the Warsaw Ghetto Square in Yad Vashem and is almost identical to the monument that is located in Warsaw, Poland, in the area which was formerly a part of the Warsaw Ghetto. In the monument there are figures of women, children and men with the burning ghetto in the background. Some of them represent those who fell in the fight while others are carrying weapons and fighting heroically. In the center of the monument appears the figure of the uprising's leader, Mordechai Anielewicz, who holds in his hand the flame that lit the fire resistance.

The monument emphasizes the figures' heroic character while glorifying the Jewish fighter.

This event is about roots and about the holocaust and heroism prior to the establishment of the state of Israel and afterwards, all the way until today.

Created by: Yinon Tzafrir.
Directed by: Daniel Zafran and Yinon Tzafrir.
Dramaturgy: Yifat Zandani-Tzafrir.
Artistic Adviser: Avi Gibson Bar-El.
Set Designer: Miki Ben Knaan.
Wigs and Accessories Designer: Tova Berman.
Lighting Designer: Uri Morag.
Soundtrack Designer: Daniel Zafran and Yinon Tzafrir.
Mix: Marcelo Kovalski.
Pantomime Instructor: Daniel Zafran.
Narrator: Yinon Tzafrir.
Cast: Avi Gibson Bar-El, Moti Sabag, Michael Marks, Noga D'Angeli, Nimrod Ronen and Yinon Tzafrir.

Artistic Director of Orto-Da Theatre Group: Yinon Tzafrir.

Show duration: One hour.

"Stones" has won many prizes, including:
- Chosen to be one of the best 10 shows among 200 international entries, Germany/NRW, 2007 Both Audience Choice and Artistic Committee Awards in the FERIA DE TEATRO DE CASTILLA Y LEÓN.
- Spain 2007 Best show - Puff Theatre Festival-Pula, Croatia.
- 2008 First prize- International Street C.A.T Theater Festival, Israel 2005 Best Design Award - Israel Fringe "Kipod Hazahav" contest.
- 2008 And 4 more awards by "Assitej".
- 2011 Theater for Children and Youth: Best Choreography Award, Best Interdisciplinary Play Award, Best Lighting Award, Accessories Design Award.

The Manservants
Monday, Jan. 23, 20:30 and Tuesday, Jan. 24, 20:30 - at The Room Theatre, 5 Yosef ha-Nasi St., Tel Aviv.

A topical adaptation of today's way of life in Israel.
The play is derived from "The Maids" by Jean Genet, which debuted on April 17, 1947 at the Théâtre de l'Athénée, Paris, with an excerpt from "War Journal 2014" by Salman Natour.

In the classic play, in 1940s France, Claire and Solange are two sister-housemaids who engage in role-play while their mistress, known only as Madame, is out of the house. The object of the game is to reach the moment when Madame is murdered by the maids. They switch roles, with each playing Madame as the other plays the maid. In their desire to murder Madame through the Madame-Maid game they express their longing to relieve themselves of the burden of authority that oppresses them. But the classic version asserts that the two can never fulfill this wish and so they commit suicide.

In many past productions the women's roles were played by men. They wore make-up and behaved in stereotypically feminine fashion, once a rather sensational feat. In the new adaptation, the characters are played by men, with no effort made to hide this fact.
The actors play immigrant workers who carry out the economy of masters with a background of the way of life in today's Israel.
The play takes place in Tel Aviv's old central station, the home of immigrant workers and refugees.
As the play progresses, the men discard their maid outfits and remain in the clothes of immigrant workers, the way is paved for present reality to breach that of the classic play, as the story hurtles forward towards its grim conclusion.

Adaptation: Amir Orian and Avi Gibson Bar-El.
Directed by: Avi Gibson Bar-El.
Artistic Adviser: Amir Orian.
Stage and Costume Design: Avi Gibson Bar-El.
Sound Editing and Artistic Guidance: Yinon Tzafrir.
Dramaturgy: Yifat Zandani-Tzafrir.
Artistic Director of Orto-Da Theatre Group: Yinon Tzafrir

Actors and Co-Creators: Aviel Shilyan, Tal Danino, Moti Rozentsvige.

For tickets, call 03-7511136 (Israel).
For further information: www.orto-da.com.

Orto-Da Theatre was established in Israel in 1996 at the initiative of Artistic Director Yinon Tzafrir, with Yifat Zandani Tzafrir & Avi Gibson Bar-El.
Since its establishment, Orto-Da won many international theatre prizes. The group's purpose is to create and perform unique theatre events. The group focuses on studying and performing through the use of an original international language, based on the research of human and physical behavior. The Orto-Da name expresses the tension between the desires to save old ways of thinking and the ambition to create new ones. The first half of the word is cut from the orthodox, which expresses the cultural memory and roots. The second half of the word is cut from the word Dada, the cultural movement that explored new territories of art. Combining the two words together creates an artistic harmony. In Hebrew, the word 'Orto-Da' divides into two different words: Or means "Light" and Toda means "Thank You".

Photo Credit: Yuval Koganzon.

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