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"My Theater Stories": Omri Nitzan's biography is not perfect, but fuels the longing
"My Theater Stories," written by Omri Nitzan and published near his death about a month ago, attempts to summarize the entirety of his theatrical work over the years.
There is a feeling of "anxiety" between the pages that the viewer / reader needs constant stimulation, and also lacks preoccupation with in-depth processes, and yet - the great significance of the man is evident
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Omri Nitzan
Walla!
culture
Tuesday, 24 August 2021, 00:00 Updated: 00:02
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The man of the establishment.
Omri Nitzan (Photo: Reuven Castro)
It is possible that this list of critics should have been written by Omri Nitzan, the artistic director and revered theater director, whose day (Tuesday) is the thirtieth day of his death.
He would probably have taken care to make it a real "event."
Like for example when he was required to direct one film from the play "Macbeth", at the beginning of his studies at the Drama Center in London sometime in the early 1970s.
Nitzan planted around the stage a row of burning torches, and the banko, whom he had previously murdered Macbeth, he put in like a ghost as a waiter in the middle of the royal supper, and that banko filled and filled the Scottish commander's glass with red blood-colored liquid that spilled from the glass and dripped on his fingers.
Because everything with Omri Nitzan was always painted in bright and strong colors.
Even when he was in high school and formed with Michael Henzalzaltz, later the mythological theater critic of the Haaretz newspaper, a theater troupe called the Time Band.
Then, at the age of 24, he directed "On Frivolity and Hypocrisy" in the carpentry of the Habima Theater, which later became the basement hall.
And at the age of 30, when he was appointed artistic director of the Haifa Theater, and then at the age of 35, when he was appointed artistic director of the Habima Theater.
A comet if you will.
A smart, knowledgeable man, with an endless passion for theater, who sealed the seal of success from the first moment, and he lasted almost until his last day, after, among other things, artistically managing the Israel Festival and especially, for 26 years, when with his "twin", Noam Symbol as CEO, they led the Cameri Theater for a long term after a long term (some say too long ...), and put him in the minds of many at the pinnacle of repertory theatrical endeavor in the country.
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A tougher hand was required.
Cover of "My Theater Stories" by Omri Nitzan (Photo: Kinneret Zmora Dvir)
Omri Nitzan's list of artistic achievements can probably be found elsewhere, and it includes many Shakespearean productions, original productions ("Family Story" and "The Rebels" based on Edna Mazia's plays), an unforgettable direction of the play "Murder Hanoch Levin's and more and more.
I'm not a theater critic God forbid (let's face it - we are all a bit of a theater critic, but few make it a profession), but I would like to point out one thing, which concerns my taste in the nature of this book - "My Theater Stories", Omri wrote with the help of Ruth Ton-Mendelssohn, a book that tries to summarize the entirety of his theatrical work over the years, and he came out right near his death - a death that struck many in pain among the members of the theater community in the country.
There was sometimes a feeling that as a director, Omri Nitzan was constantly anxious that not enough interesting things were happening on stage, so alongside the impressive artistic achievements and the truly deep and broad theatrical perception, more and more stimuli seemed to be launched from the stage towards the dark space where the audience sits. More and more stage "pranks" designed to capture the viewer's heart, and perhaps hid some anxiety that the same viewer might leave the hall, if for one moment nothing happens that will excite his imagination.
And I write all these things because I have a feeling that something of this "anxiety" is seeping through the pages of this book as well. The book is partly laden with more important and less important details, and in my opinion at least a much more "tough" hand was needed here from an editor, who would take care to separate chaff from hay, mainly from bland. Not every review written about a particular show has to go in, and certainly not a thank-you note sent at the end of one or another acting period.
Omri Nitzan was a man with high self-awareness, so the issue of anxiety also arises in the book, when he tells in another context that when he returned home late at night, he fearfully entered his backyard, fearing that someone whose public figure or long term as artistic director would be icing on the cake And will try to eliminate him.
This is an interesting point that I am convinced Omri Nitzan was also aware of - the contrast and contradiction between a man of great power and influence, probably in the position of artistic management, and a man who fears that it will all end in a second.
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Everyone has their own Omri.
Omri Nitzan (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Another interesting point: from the very beginning and at the beginning of the book, Omri testifies that he is an institutional theater man, or what he reads in English - Establishment. He does so with a smiling description of a visit he made to London to the esteemed fringe creator, director and actor and playwright Naftali Yavin.
But Omri himself was aware of the great crisis that Israeli theater has encountered in recent years. In recent years, of course, there was "Hamlet". But this production had a distinct "fringe" character - it was presented more than a thousand times, but each time to a relatively small audience, and had a much more experimental character, probably compared to productions and musicals that have taken over since Like a plague on Israeli theater.
Omri has often talked about "mix" and the reduction of state support for theater, a reduction that has often caused the theater to blur the line between artistic and commercial, but it seems to me that there may be too many "inventories" of productions in this book, each very impressive of course, and too few Reference to some of these in-depth processes.
Either way everyone probably has their "Omri". I "discovered" him when I was discharged from the army and went to see his version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Habima Theater. I later realized that in this production there were many "traces" of Peter Brock, the English director who was revered by Omri. Still, this memorable production, with music by Pink Floyd ("The Dark Side of the Moon") left me with an indelible impression, and imitated the character of Omri Nitzan as one of the most important theater people who acted here. The pain of his untimely passing is immense.
"My Theater Stories" / Omri Nitzan.
Kinneret Publishing Zmora Dvir.
240 pages.
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