This week, Aaron Herman spoke to the writers of the Israeli play Dogs.
We had the opportunity to speak with the writers of the Israeli play Dogs. Dogs is a new play presented by TheaterCan, an Israeli theatre company, exploring the creation of an Arab-Israeli Romeo & Juliet musical, will have its New York debut as part of the 16th Annual New York International Fringe Festival
When five men from completely different backgrounds come together to work on a new and extremely controversial show, the production threatens to turn into a spectacular and amusing disaster. As their rehearsal room becomes a demi-battlefield, filled with drama and suspense, the men struggle to keep the production alive. Will one passionate gay director, a heated Arab-Israeli conflict and a confirmed male pregnancy take the production to the next level, or manage to tear everything apart? “DOGS” is an original production exploring the creation of a play within a play. “The show is a biting comedy that was created following a workshop of Jewish and Arab male actors that aims to deal with the mutual alienation and rage that both sides have become accustomed to”, says Ido Bornstein, the playwright responsible for “DOGS” and founding member of the TheaterCan Company. “The result is a comedy that sheds light on the Israeli-Arab conflict from a gender-based perspective while incorporating social commentary in a way that is unexpected and stimulating”
The TheaterCan collective, led by Artistic Director Shlomo Plessner, will arrive in New York for 2 weeks to perform two of their critically- acclaimed plays that have been accepted into the festival. “Honest” and “DOGS”. “Honest”, a play written by acclaimed English playwright DC Moore has undergone a brilliant adaptation by the TheatreCan group, while “DOGS” is an original play written by award-winning Israeli playwright Ido Bornstein.
The cast includes Lavi Zytner (Best Actor, Israeli Theater Awards 2008), Benjamin David Elder, Mahmoud Mora, Rami Kashi and Hai Maor. Directed by Shlomo Plessner. Written by Ido Bornstein Choreography by Ronit Ziv. Original Music by Galit florentz.
TheaterCan is an Israeli dynamic troupe of acclaimed artists founded by Artistic Director Shlomo Plessner and Playwright Ido Bornstein, creators of ‘Sunrise’, ‘Lice’ and ‘Hunger’ (Best Fringe Play award, 2004, presented at the FIND Festival for International New Drama at the Berlin Schaubühne Theater). Many TheatreCan’s plays are written following workshops with the actors from diverse backgrounds. TheaterCan strives to merge the documentary art forms with poetic expression while presenting a fresh, funny and compassionate voice from Israel.
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