All About Jewish Theatre - Israeli Theatre scene gathers to award prizes that mark the latest achievements in the field

Boaz Trinker is drama student in Nissan Nativ's actors studio in Tel-Aviv, and publishes in Hebrew in "Tochnia – The Israeli Theatre
Heritage Website" Web : www.tochnia.co.il e-mail : boaz@tochnia.co.il

Every year the entire Israeli Theatre scene gathers to award prizes that mark the latest achievements in the field. The winners are voted on by the awards comity, which consists of 80 "academy members" that spend the year watching the various shows. The ceremony spans mainly the large repertory theatres (Habima, The Cameri, Beit-Lessin, Gesher, Khan Theatre, Haifa Municipal Theatre, Beer-Sheva Municipal Theatre) but among the 18 prizes given out there are also categories for best fringe show and best entertainment show.

This year the ceremony, held on March 4th, took place in the Cameri theatre's new home which was recently inaugurated in April 2003. This year marks the theatre's 60th birthday. The Cameri was established in 1944 by "Matate" theatre veteran Yosef "Peppo" Milo, his wife Yemima, Yosef Ben-Avraham, Roza Lichtenstein and Batya Lancet, operating in the basement of Mugrabi theatre in Tel-Aviv, then one of Israel's most prestigious venues. In 1961 the theatre moved to a modern newly constructed hall, seating 1000 people and located on top of the "Dizingoff Passage" on the corner of Dizingoff and Frishman. In 1971 the theatre was adopted by the municipality of Tel-Aviv and became the city's municipal theatre.

Over the years the Cameri has been extremely influential in shaping the Israeli culture, alongside its older brother Habima theatre. Various well-known foreign directors chose it as a home, and it was also the place where prominent Israeli artists such as poet Natan Alterman chose to display their work. The most prominent figure that developed in the theatre since the early 1970s was Hanoch Levin, playwright and director.

Two emotional highlights of the years' ceremony included the lifetime achievement award given to actor, director, singer and composer Shimon Israeli, and a homage to the Cameri theatre. Three actresses, Keren Mor, Anat Waxman and Sara Fon-Schwarze, from one of the theatre's most successful productions, "Best of Friends" invited to the stage Batya Lancet, one of the founding members of the theatre who has long since retired from the stage, and joined her with the three actresses of the theatre who had been awarded the "Israel Award" by the government for their work in the theatre - Chana Maron, Orna Porat and Zaharira Charifai. The reunion was very emotional and the crowd of theatre people welcomed them with a standing ovation.

Among the winners in this year's ceremony:
* Best show of the year was awarded to "Mikve", a new play by Israeli playwright Hadar Galron, produced by Beit-Lessin theatre.
* Comedy of the year was awarded to "The Housemaker", produced by the Cameri theatre.
* Remake of the year was awarded to "Yaakobi and Leidental", a play originally written and directed by Hanoch Levin, produced by the Cameri theatre.
* Playwright of the year was awarded to Savion Librecht, author of "I'm speaking to you in Chinese".
* Director of the year was awarded to Miki Gurevitz, of the Khan theatre, for directing "Happiness".
* Actor in lead role was awarded to Yossi Banai for playing king David in "Crown Crazy".
* Actress in lead role was awarded to Tiki Dayan for "Petrol City".