Habimah - National Theatre of Israel
Habimah, which exploded onto the stage in Czarist Russia, is older than many national theatres worldwide. Its early years read like the stuff of which legends are made – a great Russian epic, with larger-than-life protagonists. It was founded in 1917, in the midst of the Bolshevik Revolution, in Moscow by a group of young Jewish zealots – all Hebrew teachers - Nahum Zemach, Hanna Robina, and Menahem Gnesin. At the time when studies of the Hebrew language were forbidden and the public library in Moscow hid away its Hebrew books, they were determined to found not simply a highly professional avant-garde theatre, but to give expression to the revolutionary spirit of the Jewish people through the revival of Hebrew culture and language.
Their enthusiasm and perseverance attracted the high priest of Russian Theatre, Constantin Stanislavsky, who agreed that Habimah would act as one of the studios attached to the renowned Moscow Art Theatre, and nominated as its chief director and teacher one of his favorite students Yevgeny Vakhtangov, who later became one of the world's fabulous directors.
In the eyes of Albert Einstein, Habimah was "a monumental enterprise." Maxim Gorki wrote:"from poverty, hunger, and frost, this miracle was conceived, Habimah. . . . This little theatre is a paragon to the power of magic in art and talent. . . They have ecstasy. A great truth burns in them. This small and beautiful baby will grow into a glorious giant."
Milestones of Habimah's history:
1913 Habimah performed The Eternal Jew by David Pinski at the 11th World Zionist Congress in Vienna, prior to its official founding in 1917.
1922 Habimah produced The Dybbuk by S. Anski, directed by Vakhtangov.
1926 A very successful tour in Europe and the USA. Gordon Craig ("Europe respects Habimah"), Bernard Shaw, Thomas Mann ("An impression that will live on in my memory forever"), Albert Einstein ("An enterprise … of monumental proportions"), Max Reinhart and Tyrone Guthrie ("The most impressive show I have seen in my entire life"), were among the spectators. Brooks Atkingson of the The New York Times, on The Dybbuk, "The acme of perfection. . . One of the immortal theatrical works." The members run the theatre as a collective.
1928 Habimah reached the shores of Palestine.
1935 The cornerstone of Habimah's permanent home was laid in Tel Aviv, but its construction was completed only in 1945
1945 The new Habimah Building was inaugurated. It performed Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, directed by Tyrone Guthrie, and the first Hebrew rendition of Hamlet.
1958 Habimah became The National Theatre of Israel. In the same year Habimah won the country's most coveted award – The Israel Prize.
1968 A professional management replaced the Habimah Administrative Collective.
1983 During the Lebanon War, the Theatre performed in shelled northern towns, while also staging Euripides' Trojan Women, a blatant anti-war production.
1991 During the Gulf War Habimah put on special performances for residents of Ramat Gan and south Tel Aviv, evacuated from their scud demolished homes.
1996 Habimah's Young Company was created by Ilan Ronen who later became Habimah's Artistic Director.
2002 Habimah performed The Diary of Anne Frank, Allen ginsberg's Kadish for Naomi, and The Summer of Avia, at Moscow's Vakhtangov Theatre.
2003 Habimah performed Kadish for Naomi in New York. The New York Times hailed the performance, which "brings theatrical intelligence and moments of real power . . ."
2004 Ilan Ronen replaced Yaacov Agmon as the Habimah's Artistic Director.
Habimah has attracted many world renowned directors. Among them: Tyrone Guthrie, Harold Clurman, Andrzej Wajda, Joseph Chikin, Stephen Berkoff, Lee Strasburg, Yuri Lubimov, Jerome Savary, and Julius Gellner.
The theatre has represented Israel at leading theatre festivals, among them:
The Stutgart Festival (1980)
The Quebec Festival in Canada (1986)
The Caracas Festival in Venezuela (1988)
The Berlin Festival (1990)
The Goldoni Festival in Venice and Rome (1993)
The Ibsen Festival in Oslo (1996) where the Swedish "Dagbladet" described its production of The Ghosts as "a search for new and exciting ways of combining high aesthetic quality with a clear social critique."