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Scenography Commission
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International Meeting of Stage
Designers
Tel Aviv , Israel — May 2006
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Friday 26 May Arrival of some delegates, Entertainment Saturday 27 May Arrival of some delegates, Theatre performance. Sunday 28 May 9-17 Costume workgroup + Lighting workgroup: Costume/Light/Movement, A workshop with Israeli dancers, Cameri 4 auditorium, Cameri Theatre 15-17 History & Theory meeting. 17-19 Hanging of Exhibition, Foyer, Cameri Theatre 19 Reception and opening of exhibitions 20:30 Theatre show Monday 29 May 9-19 Costume/Light/Movement, Cameri 4 small teams work will be scheduled in different time slots 9-15 Small groups tours and visits of the theatre lighting museum 11-13 Set Designers and Teachers: Meeting with stage design students. Cameri theatre Foyer 13-14 History & Theory commission meeting (location to be announced) 16-18 Visit to The Palmach Meuseum. 20:30 Theatre show, Cameri Theatre Tuesday 30 May 9-10:30 Scenography commission meeting (click for meeting notes) 10-14 Visits to Theatre lighting Museum Workshop activities may be scheduled. 17 Israeli Designers exhibition Shalom Tower Dinner 20:30 Workshop performance Wednesday 31 May 10 Symposium:Documenting Scenography:History and Practice Theatre Museology,Documentation and Reconstruction, Tel Aviv University 14-15 Lunch Break 15-16.30 Symposium: Documenting Scenography: History and Practice Theatre Museology, Documentation and Reconstruction, Tel Aviv University 17-18 Scenography commission meeting (click for meeting notes) 20:30 Theatre performance Thursday 1 June Jerusalem tour Friday-Saturday 2-3 June Jewish Holiday of Shavuot Tour to the north of Israel
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Opening Ceremony | |||
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We started the OISTAT meeting with a three day workshop at the Cameri Theatre in Tel Aviv. Everyone speaks English so it was very easy to make it all happen. The
Cameri is a brand new center, much like Lincoln Center, that houses four
legitimate theatres, one opera house and a modern art museum. We were
exploring the use of LED lights for theatre.
(click image for
more Cameri Theater pictures)
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| Led Light Displays | ||||
LEDs are the lights
used for Time Square digital billboards. They are small and very intense
yet generate no heat, so they are very interesting for costume use.
(click images to see
more of the LED displays)
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| Tel Aviv | ||||
It was an
extraordinary time and the Israeli people were more than kind to us in
meeting our every need.
(click image for
more Tel Aviv pictures)
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| Costume Workshop | ||||
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(click image for more Costume Workshop pictures) Costume designers, lighting designers, choreographers and dancers worked together. The
choreographers came to the collaboration with brutal and sexual dances and,
of course, the costume designers had brought lyrical fabric that was light
and airy, moved well and took the light beautifully.
There was some clashing of interests, but in the end we created 13 very exciting dance theatre pieces. When they showed us their pieces initially, they all looked and felt the same with black heavy movement. After they were designed, each had its own particular feel and look. They were all so impressed that they wanted to open a design program for dancers. They were amazed by the results and the unique design that each Scenography Team created. |
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| Jersulam Tour | ||||
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We spent only a day in the holy city of Jerusalem seeing only the high spots I'm afraid, but it is a very impressive place with religion piled on top of religion. My
favorite church was the Ethiopian compound near the church where the last
supper was meant to be held. It was molded like an African village and the
tall dark Coptic Monks still stand guard. It was jarring to feel the old
testament come to life, and also the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
(click image for more Jersulam Tour pictures) |
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| North of Israel | ||||
| Later we took a trip to the north of Israel. We had a fantastic night in Nazareth with Israeli Arabs a.k.a. Palestinians. These were living in a compound consisting of several apartments around one central kitchen in the old Arab area of Nazareth in a beautiful, but neglected mansion. They had dreams and ideals and they were all so brave as artists passionately working for their cause of peace and freedom. They were working on a puppet show that was meant to have different meanings at different levels. Interestingly enough, one young lady was Canadian from Palestinian parents in Toronto. She was learning Arabic and said that there are so few foreigners trying to learn Arabic, that they assumed she was just stupid. One of the young men was about to go to design a production of Lorca's "Blood Wedding" for a theatre in Ramallah. Interesting choice. We are hoping to encourage the Palestinians to have a booth at the Prague Quadrennial in June of 2007 representing themselves as a new country. | ||||
| Caesarea, Acre and Beit She'an | ||||
We spent a day in
the ruins of the Roman town of Caesarea, once the capital of Israel and
that too was impressive. It's site along the Mediterranean Sea makes it
extremely scenic, but most impressive was the huge swimming pool that was
at the center of Herod's palace. This Herod of Biblical fame knew how to
live. Why not conduct business at the "pool?" It also sports the
remains of a beautiful Roman theatre overlooking the sea. There was another
Roman theatre that was also significant in Beit She'an, another Roman town
that was particularly a spa. It housed multiple baths of various
temperatures, a gymnasium, etc. They have found several grooming tools
there including a instrument for removing ear wax that looked a lot like a
tiny spoon! After Beit She'an we went to the Crusader city of Acre (Akko)
and wandered in the medieval alley's thinking of the weird Knights Templar
and all of their projects. When one considers that there were usually no
more than 10 at each station, they built amazing things. We also went to
Tiberius that is now quite a modern city on the Sea of Gallilee and had a
fantastic brunch overlooking the water. The exotic brunch was at a
four-star hotel run by Scottish missionaries at one time. I suppose that it
still may be. Their idea was to treat every guest equally and spread the
gospel as people were well fed and content.
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| The Dead Sea | ||||
| The Dead Sea was
seen from the sea of an air-conditioned car. I went with Wei-Wen from China
and Kazue from Japan. We had so many laughs and such fun. My goodness it is
dead! It looks like another planet. The atmosphere is so heavy that you can
hardly see the mountains of Jordan just over the small distance. The water
is oily and so salty that the taste is pungent, almost burning the tongue,
yuk! While in the area, we went down to see Masada, where the Jews
committed mass suicide rather than to be captured by the Roman Army. It is
a large mesa with a city on the top. How they built it in those early times
is a miracle. They had to quarry the stone and somehow get it to the
top of a mountain to build their great city. It is quite amazing to
contemplate the will of men who fight all obstacles to create the
impossible. It was so hot that when the car door was opened, it felt like a
blast from a hair dryer. Why would they want to build a town there?
Strategic position, yes, but get real, it's 110 degrees already in early
summer!
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| Halifa | ||||
We went to Haifa , a
northern port and a city that looks much like San Francisco . The
centerpiece of the city is the head temple for the Ba'hai religion that was
started in Persia . All behind the Temple and heading straight up a wall of
the mountain is a formal garden tended by 100 gardeners. It is truly awe
inspiring in it's scope. Somehow, I thought Ba'hai was an American hippie
development for peace on earth, not a 100 year old religion started in
Persia . When I told my neighbor, who's been walking my dog in my absence,
about Haifa and the Ba'hai Temple, he said that when he came back from
Turkey in early May, there were hundreds of Ba'hai refugees who had just
been expelled from Persia/Iran. I am really curious about this religion and
if it really is all about Peace among all peoples why would they be being
expelled from Iran?
"Prussian Fairy Tale" performed at Halifa University (click image for more)
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| Closing Remarks | ||||
In general Israel is not what I expected. Tel Aviv is a laid back party town with bars along the beach open 24 hours a day. The beautiful white sand beach stretches the entire length of the city, giving it a slightly Miami Beach feel. There is virtually no evidence of the army anywhere, and there are only the same kind of bag checkers as at major events and museums in the US . The city is alive with culture and also has a restored old medieval town of Jaffa at the southern end of the beach. Jaffa is meant to be the port where Johah set off for Tarshish, only to be swallowed by a whale. The old historic town now has a population of subsidized housing for artists. What a lovely idea to help artists. The culture here is well supported and the theatre we've seen has been excellent, but a bit on the depressing side. The
weather was hot during the day, but not too grueling with temperatures in the
high 80s, and cooling down a bit towards balmy in the evenings. We learned to
stroll rather than stride and then touring about in the heat was OK.
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