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Role of his life: Actor David Shaul lost his sister just before playing a bereaved brother Israel today

2022-05-12T17:54:38.769Z


While preparing for the role of a bereaved brother in the play, the same fate befell the actor David Shaul: his beloved sister Liron passed away near the birth • In an exposed interview, Shaul talks about the choice to continue ("I felt I had a chance to break the grief through the stage"). Had the movie "Release My Edge" ("Everyone Wanted to Be Photographed with Me, Like an Amusement Park Facility"), and the approaching fatherhood ("adds anxiety, but also excitement and joy")


In the new show in which he stars, "Mental Supervision", the actor David Shaul plays the character of a young man whose life is affected by the shaky loss of his older brother.

While working on the role, Saul did not assume that his private life was about to suffer, unfortunately, the same cruel and painful blow of fate.

In November 2021, Shaul's older sister, the late Corporal Sergeant Liron Shaul-Gochberg, passed away, shortly after giving birth to her second daughter. And in life - also in memory of the sister who is not.

"It's still fresh for me, and I do not feel free to talk about it, I still digest," he pauses, a serious look pushing the mischievous smile and eyes that gleamed throughout the conversation.

"Liron died a month after giving birth to a healthy baby, a nurse for her 3-year-old daughter. It was a pregnancy at risk that got complicated.

"None of us thought such a terrible thing would happen. After the birth my sister managed to see the baby once and give her a name, and then her condition got complicated again, and she was attacked by a very rare autoimmune disease, from which she could no longer get out."

The late Maj. Gen. Shaul-Gochberg served for years in the Human Resources Corps, and was also the commander of the IDF Casualties.

"She was the mother of the casualty array. The first to receive any message about a soldier who was injured, died or committed suicide. It was a round-the-clock job, and Liron faced all the relevant bodies, families, the media, organizing funerals, everything.

"Suddenly the creators turned around and my sister was the event to be taken care of. More than 3,000 people came to her funeral. I saw up close the legacy she left behind, I realized how many people she touched. She was also such a devoted mother, and this is another very significant legacy she left us. "I have another brother, Aviv (29), who is a social entrepreneur who gives lectures on Israeli society at all levels. We are dismantled now, trying to understand what is happening to us in the world."

"I will dedicate a song album to her"

In the play "Soul Supervision," which aired two weeks ago at the Cameri Theater, Shaul (32) is Azriel, a young man who, just before he enters to study at a prestigious seder yeshiva, meets a group of Tel Aviv poets.

The group causes him to recalculate the course of his life, to realize his attraction to writing poetry and also to Atara, a young and daring poet, and to be torn between the world of Torah and the world of poetry.

In the background hovers the figure of his dead brother, Avigdor, who influences all members of the household and leads to the revelation of a dark family secret.

In the play "Mental Supervision" (with Neve Tzur).

"The character speaks to me", Photo: Kfir Bolotin

The play, written by Tomer Rosenman and directed by Hadar Galron, also features Odia Koren, Ohad Shachar, Andrea Schwartz, Mia Landsman, Aya Granit Shaba, Elad Atrakchi, Elior Amsalem, Neve Tzur, Dudu Niv, Naama Sheetrit and Einat Holland.

"The play first came up as a staged reading in 2019, as part of the 'Here and Now' festival at the Cameri, so already two years ago I played the character of the grieving brother. At that stage it was not my reality, and suddenly the story became real life."

How do you deal with a great personal pain that mixes with what is happening on stage?

"I felt I might have a chance to dismantle this thing through the show. Before that I was self-contained, barely leaving the house. I felt I did not understand why people live, how the world might continue and that I stayed. Some struggle started in me, do I even want to stay? I have for what? These were thoughts I did not know before, and it was difficult.

"I felt like the environment didn't know how to digest what I was going through, and I felt a lot alone. Suddenly, when I was called to rehearse the full show, the first thing I said to the actors was' I haven't left the house since it happened, so I'm sorry if I react too traumatic or '' "I went through a process of development with the wound, realizing that it exists in me and that I can be with it."

Work on the job has become a process of healing?

"It mostly made me realize I could live with the wound. During rehearsals I had disintegrations, sometimes it felt two-match, and then I wanted to walk away or cry inside me, without being seen. Get angry, shut down. Go through the whole rainbow of emotions.

"I did not know how I contain it. How do I come to the players when I'm supposed to be a professional and lead the ship as the main character? How will I lead when I'm so injured and exhausted? Fortunately, the players here are amazing. , it's not taken for granted.

"I discovered that grief and power are not necessarily opposites, but one. I said to myself, 'Precisely in the fact that you cry and keep going there is something strengthening.' "From the moment of my loss, I suddenly saw a lot of people around me who had lost their loved ones and wanted to be with me, to talk to me."

There are also support groups for people in your situation.

"Luckily, I'm in psychotherapy. I'm a person who talks about things, breaks down and details my feelings. I have nothing like that to cover too much, so I do not feel the need for a support group. Maybe later. In the meantime I have my stage and my songs. I have written a lot of songs. "About Liron after she passed away, and I think most of the album I're creating now is about her and for her. It will be dedicated to her."

With his late sister Liron. "I understood how many people she touched," Photo: From the family album

"I saw myself clearly"

Shaul was born and raised in Rishon Lezion.

As a child he studied classical piano for 11 years, and in the fifth grade he entered a drama class, where he opened up to another world.

"I was a shy kid, and all of a sudden, in a circle, there was a scene of a date with a girl much taller than me. I was a tweet like that, and suddenly I had words, and she wanted me in a scene, and I came out well. It moved me. I told myself that was what I wanted to do."

He was a member of the Kol Rishon youth troupe, studied music and theater in high school, and served in the Nahal troupe and the IDF theater in the army ("I was the commander in the Nahal troupe and fought to appear in the most remote outposts, in front of as many combat soldiers as possible"). He studied acting at Nissan Nativ Studio, and then went on a long and soothing trip to the East.

"I was done, after breaking up with a partner, and I felt I had to run away. I did all of India alone, even on a motorcycle. It was a direct preoccupation with my fears. When I came back, after three months, I realized I had to go back to music, because it was for me the "In India, I saw myself clearly in music. Only me and the guitar."

In 2017, Shaul released his debut album, "Or Arabim", from which the singles "Or Arabim" and "Mapa Leshem", which were played on the radio, stood out.

"A very natural and clean album, me and a classical guitar wrapped in instrumental instruments. Something that characterized my India experience. I performed in lots of clubs and bars all over the country, and at the same time I entered the Cameri Theater. From a young age I knew my life would combine theater and music."

What is your attitude towards model celebs who put out one song and play it on the radio non-stop?

"It has no rules. I believe in a passion for something, and who am I to say what's right and what's not. It's like someone who has not studied acting and reaps a lot of roles - to have success. "I believe in my way, and in my audience, and if someone else succeeds, it's not at my expense."

For seven years he has been one of the most promising actors in the Cameri Theater, and in addition to "Mental Supervision" he is now also participating in the comedy show "Romeo and the Mother", which deals with the reality world and the stars for a moment who become cultural heroes.

He also dubs, and from this month you can hear his voice in the animated film in question "Where's Anne Frank" by director Ari Pullman.

"My relationship with Ari started in the Cameri, when I played in 'Endless Grief' which he directed. Later he called me to this film. I dub the man who has a love story with the main character of the film, Kitty, Anna's imaginary girlfriend. It's a very big film. And beautiful, a masterpiece for me.

"I recorded the character when my sister was hospitalized, and I had two words left that I did not have time to complete. Ari called me back to the studio to recite them: 'She was dead.' "It came from the mouth, and I really did not record again. They used a sentence that I had already recorded in another context, and it worked out."

A year and a half ago he released a second album, "See You", and now he is working on a third album with musician and music producer Tamir Muscat.

"It's a whole album I wrote recently, in the style of the music I once grew up on. There are already some songs ready, and we'll be releasing singles soon. Creatively, I feel it's my highlight. For me, music is my home. I think in tunes. I have a bank of tunes. "And I can be in some situation - and then the melody comes to me, and the text comes, and there's a song."

In between, he participates in the high-quality musical ensemble "Rashtov", which has been active for the past two years and is responsible for an album of 15 children's songs, including "The Aunt from Brazil", "Tonight Travel to the Moon", "Noa" and "Israel Kurzafa", written and composed by Ido Ofek (Zigo). One of the founders of the spur band, and Avishai Friedler.

They were joined in performances by Joy Rieger, Kinneret Limoni and Shaul.

On the small screen, he appeared in a variety of series ("Neighborhood"), but it seems that the series "Harmon" from 2018, based on the story of Goel Ratzon and the terrible cult he led, brought him into the Israeli living room when he played Ratzon's son.

"'Harmon' managed to generate public interest, even though it was not easy to digest. It was an event. People would catch me on the street and tell me 'it will be okay, do not worry, you will get out of there ...'. Mothers would hug me. It really changed perceptions "I felt that if the series could give power to men, and especially women, then we did something important. I understood from the audience that the series gave perspective, and that did me good."

"The movie changed my life"

In recent months he has faced another widespread exposure, as one of the stars of the film's trilogy in question, "Release Shuli", which broke viewing records and made Saul, who plays Shuli in the film, the audience favorite and one of the most familiar and talked about characters of the year.

"This movie changed my life," he smiles.

"I keep getting comments about him. In the film, Shuli is the son of Zion Baruch, who got lost in Colombia, and the father comes with his friends to release him. Everywhere people approach me and say, 'Here's the boy, here's Shuli, we found Shuli.' With me, I felt like an amusement park facility. "

Are these feedbacks pleasant to you?

"I'm essentially a person who wants to be alone, loves my quiet. At first I would go with a hat and hide, really scared, but I realized that people just want to tell me that I've turned around and love me - and now I can enjoy it. I once felt threatened, but now I see "It's like love. It's fun and pleasant."

In the movie "Release My Edge".

"Very helpful financially", Photo: PR

A tremendous success like that of "Releasing My Edge" gives economic security in such a fragile field?

"It helps a lot financially, but by and large, in Israel you can not make a living from one project. It does not exist, but there is also something healthy in it, in my opinion. In Israel you do not make a movie and live for life like in Hollywood, rest at home with a pool. And he thinks about the next thing, and that makes the artist constantly on the move and in search. "

He lives in Tel Aviv with his partner, Sarah Pagin, who works in art ("she founded the 'Artsource' project, which centers works by the greatest sculptors and painters in the country"), and in the coming days the two are expected to become parents for the first time.

Pagin, 35, who was born in France and immigrated to Israel with her parents as a child, met them when they were neighbors in the city, door to door.

"She would come to me on the roof, and we had fun. We've been together for three and a half years, on the way to becoming parents. I believe we will have a wedding later."

Excited towards fatherhood?

"Very. It's stressful, but mostly fills my life with meaning. When my sister passed away, Sarah was already pregnant. It all came at once, I moved between life and death. The upcoming birth adds a lot of anxiety, but also excitement and joy, because being a parent is the most "Strong to have. It's right there for you."

Speaking of space, in "mind control" you play a character who moves between worlds.

It fits your personality.

"The story of a character living between worlds is something I know. I immediately felt that Azriel 'speaks' to me. Like him, I have questions like where are my boundaries? When do I listen to myself? When do I act to make the environment happy with me? In this show there is something that also causes "Laugh and also examine things with moisture in the eye. I love it, because like in life, you can in one moment cry and laugh."

Where do you place yourself on the scale between religious and secular?

"I'm not religious, but I have something religious in my perception of God. I come from a secular home, but I'm very into talking to God and thinking with him, and he is with me. We go together, and that's something that started for me in India, after studying acting. That one has the most love, and that's where I discovered my spiritual place. I realized that I believe, that there is, and that he is with me. 

"I am most interested in playing big and powerful characters, things I can be total in, big life roles like Hamlet or Richard III. To tell the craziest and most heartbreaking stories that will resonate, that will make a social or personal change here. After you experience near death you say "I want to live. I want to stretch myself to the limit. Otherwise what do we have to do here? This is my drive." 

Maya19.10@gmail.com

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Source: israelhayom

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