Maklid/a takes audience through a kaleidoscope of Israeli urban life - review

• Published date: 14 March 2024
• Author: HAGAY HACOHEN
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The audience is taken on a roller coaster ride through a kaleidoscope of Israeli urban life. Kook inhabits two terrifically funny characters. The first is a gay man who texts a would-be-lover (Oryan) with awful, auto-corrected Hebrew. Using nothing but a goofy grin and a strength band, Kook creates a powerful ill-match for the articulate Oryan

His second character, a flag-waving protester, parrots slogans about how – by standing on one's head – public demonstrations against the government will bring change. When challenged, he slowly begins to remove dissenting voices from the social media group – until he is left alone.

In his 2022 book Stolen Focus, Johann Hari offers an in-depth examination into how new technologies are eroding our ability to concentrate, increase our mental exhaustion, and seem to expose us to a flood of texts, alerts, and vibrating devices. One key factor Hari points to is that the same technology could have been made differently: For example, social media apps could alert you when a friend is nearby and able to meet for lunch, instead of offering infinite scrolling content.

Maklid/a captures this tension right off the bat. It does not matter where we are: When we type words, we are already in anticipation of our next dopamine hit. Someone, from a stranger we might have a fling with to our next door neighbor, is about to respond. What will they say? We stare at the screen, fingers twitching in anticipation.

Performance composed of several sketches

The performance is composed of several sketches. These include a group for parents with kindergarten children, a family keeping in touch via phone, an actor chasing after his fees by texting the producers, a couple (Hacohen and Blankstein) attempting to fold laundry and raise kids while their landlord increases the monthly rent – and even an a cappella performance of the play's song "Va'ad Habeit" (building overseer). In drag, the actors sing out the dramatic fate of how the woman who served in...