The play 'Plonter'
Photo: Gadi Dagon
Iranian theater critic embraces Israeli actresses
Iranian and Syrian theater critics surprised by political openness portrayed in 'Plonter'
A senior Iranian theater critic went behind the scenes of Plonter, a play performed by the Israeli Cameri Theater and staged at the international festival in Seoul, South Korea.
The Iranian critic, Kaslion Faver, warmly embraced the Jewish and Arab actresses, who performed both in Hebrew and Arabic.
"I was very moved, this is the best play I have seen at the festival," she said.
The Iranian critic told Yael Ronen, who wrote and directed the play, that it touched on very sensitive issues, "Without being afraid and without censoring."
The actresses were very moved by the gesture and said that after the Iranian critic, Palestinian critics came behind the scenes as well. They all praised our acting, the content, and the cooperation between Jewish and Arab actors, Irit Altman said in a phone conversation from Seoul.
"She kept repeating that she had no idea that this is what goes on in our theater. We didn't think you were allowed to express yourselves so openly. In Tehran we get a completely different picture of what goes on between Jews and Palestinians and the freedom of speech," Faver said.
This is the first time an Israeli theater troupe has been invited to partake in the Korean festival, and it was due to the topic of the play: Jewish-Arab-Palestinian-settler relationships, it was shown in front of a full house.
Plonter is the talk of the town in Seoul, said Cameri director Noam Semel. And there's yet another surprise, a theater critic from Syria introduced himself to Semel and warmly shook his hand.
"Such a topic wouldn't have been allowed in Syria," the Syrian critic said. When he saw the huge numbers of photographers he became alarmed and asked that his name not be published "so that Syrian authorities would not harass him."
