theater.
The place that is supposed to be the most pluralistic and egalitarian and liberal.
A stronghold of left-leaning leftists, as defined by the former Minister of Culture.
Art - that according to all the data women are the ones who buy tickets to watch it, dragged after by men who would hardly have come themselves;
A world that examines boundaries, allows a glimpse into the lives of others, sets a mirror.
In this world, whose values are a masterpiece of openness and inclusion and possibilities, women were supposed to occupy a place of honor.
Not only in roles for actresses and content, but also in the overall work.
But in the Israel of 2021, in the repertory theater, the one subsidized by the state from taxpayer money, the average employment of female directors is only 13%. That's all.
That's it, that's all.
Women hardly get to enter the gates of Israeli repertory theater as writers or directors of major productions.
They will direct fringe plays, even plays in acting schools, but somehow they do not break the glass ceiling of the theater where the big money is.
Less female writing, less female directors, it also means less female narrative.
And it’s not that a man can’t write or direct a play about fertility treatments or sexual harassment.
Of course it is possible, but there is importance and meaning to the authentic voice, experience, pain and joy first hand.
And these stories have an audience and success.
It's enough to look at what's happening on the streaming giant Netflix to see the impact and echo evoked by the series "Immediately": an adaptation made by playwright and screenwriter Molly Smith Mazzler of a book written by Stephanie Land, in a series run through the eyes of the main protagonist.
So the women of the theater in the country decided to fight for their place, and two days ago a "50-50" conference was held at the Tzavta Theater, organized by the Theater Creators Forum, and called for more artists to be included in the main circle of action in the field.
The person who chose to refer to him was actually the radio presenter Yinon Magal, who posted the conference poster on Twitter under the headline "What is Ashkenazi in your eyes?"
Because it is easiest to despise women who are engaged in art and demand equality, and to treat them as a pampered bunch with no connection to reality based on some esoteric anecdote.
Had this attitude come only from people for whom anything that is not the formation of cruisers is not considered worthy of reference, it could have been ignored.
But the fact that women are forced to wage such struggles within an artistic apparatus that sanctifies justice and redress of injustices, is inconceivable.
How can you tell the audience stories about equality and morality when there is discrimination?
No one has the right to preach, if he himself is not governed by the values he preaches to them.
Feeling superior and humane does not make anyone like that.
It is indeed a theater, but this is not about scenery - but about the reality that is hidden behind it.
