The play "Rosenkrantz and Gildenstern are Dead," written by British-Jewish playwright Tom Stoppard, tells the story of two sub-characters in Shakespeare's play "Hamlet."
The two good friends of the Danish prince come to the palace to spy on him for the sake of the king.
The play was staged at the Gesher Theater 30 years ago, directed by the late Yevgeny Arie, and it was the first play he directed in Israel.
Now the play returns to the stage of the Gesher Theater, directed by Amit Epstein.
It will air tomorrow starring Ido Musari, Alon Friedman, Doron Tavori, Israel (Sasha) Demidov, Gil Frank / Mickey Leon, Henry David / Avi Azulai and more, and will be dedicated to the memory of Yevgeny Arieh, the theater's founder and artistic director, who passed away three months ago.
"I knew Yevgeny even before he knew me," laughs Epstein.
"I grew up on the Gesher Theater. I was a big fan of Yevgeny and his work. We first met him when he came to see a production I directed at Yoram Levinstein's studio. The first play I directed at Gesher was 'Bachelorettes' and Yevgeny accompanied me, asked me questions and maintained my freedom as a director."
According to Epstein, a few weeks after Arieh's death he offered the management of Gesher to stage "Rosenkretz and Gildenstern are Dead," which was the theatre's debut play.
"I suggested to Lena (Craindlin - the CEO; MK) to pay tribute to the lion and re-enact the play. She was very excited and told me he was supposed to direct a remake, which already had a cast. He was supposed to do it on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Gesher Theater ".
Before embarking on the directing work, he sat down to watch the original video-recorded play.
"I stick to the same ideas Yevgeny directed by him," he says, "the set, music and costumes remained the same. I got a rare opportunity to dive into Yevgeny's mind. When the original show came up I was 4. I always wanted a lesson with Aria - and I got it."
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