"The First Lady"/Radi Rubinstein, the stage
Somewhere last Tishrei, what feels like ages ago, Israel marked the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War.
The failure, the conception, the undermining of the sense of security in the south and the north, the abandonment of the fighters at the front and the many stories of heroism - all these were subjects of a gloomy but also quite distant history, and therefore less painful.
Words from the past and not a chilling reminder from the present.
In the midst of all of this hovered over the figure of Golda Meir, the only prime minister in the country's history, who has many rights in many areas, but also the one whose legacy hangs a particularly heavy shadow.
A feminist symbol?
A tragic figure?
A failed leader?
Probably both of this and this and this.
Among the multitude of works prepared for the occasion of the round celebration, next to the military "Pier" and of course "Golda" by Guy Nativ, which is also dedicated to the senior politician, there was also "The First Lady", a play by the playwright Motti Lerner at the Hima Theater in collaboration with the Beer Sheva Theater, directed by the artistic director of The theater, Moshe Captain and starring Laura Rivlin.
Like the aforementioned works, it also focuses mainly on the legacy of the Yom Kippur War, but with a twist: instead of the anxiety of the battles of early October, it deals with what happened after the war. The collection of fragments, the treatment of the wounded and missing, the demonstrations against the leadership, and especially the question of responsibility and committee deliberations Agrant, which was established to investigate the failure. At this stage, Meir is already at the end of her political career, a very sick and very hated woman, an iron woman and a broken vessel at the same time. She maintains complex relationships on all fronts: with her close staff members, the ministers under her, headed of course by Moshe Dayan, with The investigative committee and also in front of her house - perhaps the most charged relationship.
"The First Lady"/Radi Rubinstein, the stage
The play moves between these two axes - the political-public and the personal-family, which try to give the character depths from different directions - the polished, experienced and efficient politician, versus the estranged mother and grandmother, and in both cases: a man who refuses to show weakness or even acknowledge it.
She is characterized as a tragic figure, almost a victim of history, who fights against the stain that stuck to her in the twilight of a career spanning many decades.
However, this characterization seems to create the opposite reaction.
When I watched her, I felt not sympathy but rage.
With all due respect, Golda Meir is not the victim of the Yom Kippur War, but the thousands of dead soldiers who were abandoned at the front and their families who were destroyed.
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This feeling intensifies in view of the central theme of the show: the question of responsibility.
Meir, Dayan, Elazar and all the supporting characters around grapple with the question of who is responsible for the failure, and who is required to take responsibility and resign.
"If you don't take responsibility, the leaders who will come after you will repeat the same mistakes," says Motti Ashkenazi's character, actor Alex Carroll, to the audience's applause - in what is supposed to be a semi-topical message (although this spoon-feeding mostly causes eye rolling).
But while this is the popular demand, the offices are busy coordinating versions, political extortions, looking for scapegoats - all just so that the committee's finger is not pointed at them.
While the nation is licking its wounds, they are busy with their political survival.
It's mind boggling.
This is the most significant and interesting aspect of the show.
But the repetitiveness, the didacticism, the pathos and also the attempt to collect all sides of Meir's life into the play oppresses her.
"The First Lady"/Radi Rubinstein, the stage
The play jumps back and forth in time, to the war and even before it and then back again to the present, and the increasing use of this element exhausts the viewer in the end.
More interesting is another jump game - in the face of Meir-Rivlin.
Most of the play takes place, obviously, with the protagonists facing us, but occasionally, during the investigation phase, Meir sits on a chair with her back to us, talking to Agrant.
Her face is revealed to us through the screen, and in fact she is also watching herself, in the show as a witness in front of investigators, and this is how Captain elegantly amuses him by presenting the political and legal arena as a stage - a matter that is part of a long-standing tradition.
To condemn the show, it can be said that, as is the custom of the stage in recent years, no show goes on stage without at least a few moments turning into a musical - a wonderful, beloved and exciting genre, but there is absolutely no need for it this time.
Every so often, soldiers walk on the tables of the investigation committee and sing songs associated with the war period ("Who knew it would be like this" for example), and the result adds even more pathos to the whole event, material that is not lacking in the show anyway.
The truth is that it is completely unnecessary.
"The First Lady"/Radi Rubinstein, the stage
The cast is dominated by Laura Rivlin in the main role, and she is simply wonderful.
She easily enters into this strong-bitter character, which opens and closes alternately, momentarily controlling everything and at the same time not understanding how she is perceived.
If there's anything in the show that lives up to the size of the character it portrays, it's her.
In front of her, as the main antagonist, stands Yigal Sde as Moshe Dayan, the grumpy one, who runs a mind game in front of her.
We will not mention the entire cast, but it is worth mentioning the surprising casting of Tal Mosari, a man who is associated with comedy, children's shows and never-ending smiles, for the unfortunate role of Chief of Staff David Elazar
. " is a matter of timing. The show was created independently from the developments outside, and its subject is October 6, 1973, and not October 7, 2023. However, the present constantly rewrites the past, and, as in many other cases, current events also dictate the nature of viewing this work. Thus, at the same time as jumping in time , which is repeated in the play every few minutes, there is constantly another jump forward to the present. To the failure of now, to the politicians of now, to the current throwing of responsibility and also to today's demonstrations, the epicenter of which is not very far from Bima Square in the center of Tel Aviv. The scar is not exactly the same scar, And history doesn't repeat itself, but either way, the main message that emerges from the show is that we simply didn't learn anything from that damn October.
More on the same topic:
Golda Meir
the stage
Motty Lerner
Moshe Captain