Hanoch Levin's 1975 'Krum' is given a modern update - review

• Published date: 02 April 2024
• Author: HAGAY HACOHEN
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The result is a rich, intriguing, multi-textual work

Levin's characters are Krum, a would-be writer who returns home after not making it overseas; his mother (Mor Alush), who waits for him at the airport; his old crush, Trudy (Noa Cohen), is there too. As is Doopa, (that role alternates between Maya Eshel and Shira Zohar); Doopa marries, then leaves, Tugati (Lit. Gloomer); a hypochondriac friend of Krum's – played in by Royi Aviram.

In a brilliant scene, Aviram peels off one shirt after another, each with some sports team name, while Krum talks to him. It is a wonderful stage representation of how, in Levin's theatrical world, there is no change, not of shirts, and not of who we are.

The role of Krum, a man of letters, is shared by two actors. One sits at his desk, typing words projected on the wall. "Is it possible to act well," Aviv Ben types for us, "without speaking?" The audience laughs. The active Krum, played by Guy Nataf, is the one Levin imagined. He informs his mother that he is a failure, and did not even bring her a gift.

The new Krum (Ben), who sits at the laptop with junk food all around him, is much more current than Tugati, who complains that any decision he makes is foiled by the newspaper.

"Every time I set my mind to do a thing," he tells Krum (Nataf), "I see an article proving the opposite." He is then taunted on stage for reading print.

In Krum, a former Israeli called Tweety (Tal Perlman, who also plays Felicia) is married to Bertoldo (Guy Shalom, who also plays Dolce), a passionate Italian man who is all the things that Krum and Tugati aren't – yet Bertoldo's example of total fulfillment is unattainable, no matter how many sports shirts Tugati wears.

Staging makes trade-offs to create a reflective quality

As in the 2011 Polish production by Krzysztof Warlikowski, there is distance created on stage via Zoom. We see how happy Felicia and Dolce are, but they are not really with us. Like the Polish director, this performance is able to break down into several simultaneous experiences and offer new insights.

Audience members must constantly make choices in this production...