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Actress Zaharira Harifai and Playwright Yosef Bar-Yosef will receive this years Israel prize for outstanding achievements in theatre.
The prize will be presented by Minister of Education, Culture and Sports Limor  Livnat on Yom Haatzmaut (Israeli Independent Day) at the National Ceremony to be broadcasted on the Israeli TV

About the Laureates

Zaharira Harifai
Born 1929 in Tel Aviv, served in the Palmach during the War of Independence.  Finished with the first graduating class of the Cameri Theatre’s dramatic school in 1953. One of the first to perform poetry readings; setter of the standard for clear recitation of Hebrew in this discipline.  Performed classic roles such as Grusha in Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle, which was one of the most important productions in the history of Israeli theatre.

Among her many other roles:  the mute daughter in Brecht’s Mother Courage, Antigone, Olga in Chekhov’s Three Sisters, Frosine in Molière’s The Miser, Juno in O’Casey’s Juno and the Paycock, and Inez in Sartre’s No Exit.  She had a hand in the creation of an original Israeli repertoire, with her roles in the plays of Hanoch Levin such as Ya’akobi & Leidental, Varda’le’s Youth, The Rubber Merchants, The Lost Women of Troy, and many more.  If there is a Hanoch Levin school, Zaharira Harifai beyond a doubt set its tone.  She appeared in these plays in England, New York, Germany, and Bulgaria, and she won high praise.  At the Edinburgh Festival, Ya’akobi & Leidental won first prize and received exceptional reviews.  Other original plays in which she appeared include Abandoned Property, His Life’s Work, and Sea Journeys by Shulamit Lapid, After the Holidays by Yehoshua Kenaz, Fleischer, by Yigal Even-Or, and Fantasy for Piano by Aliza Olmert.

She played in the Cameri, Habima, Beersheba, and Khan companies and was among the founders of the Zavit Theatre.

Zaharira Harifai was among the main performers in radio drama for many years and appeared in well-known films such as Sallah, The Policeman, and Daughters, Daughters.

In recent years she has worked as acting teacher and director at the Beit Zvi school of theatre arts.

Yosef Bar-Yosef
Born in Jerusalem in 1933, a sixth-generation native on the side of his late father, the writer Yehoshua Bar-Yosef, who lived in Safed as well as in old Jerusalem, and at least eighth-generation on the side of his late mother Tsipora, who lived in Hebron as well as in old Jerusalem.

Studied one year at cheder, and then at the Religious Elementary School for Boys.  Next, the family moved to the Tel Aviv area and he continued his studies at Beit Hinuch Tichon high school.  At Hebrew University in Jerusalem, earned a BA in Hebrew philosophy, Kabbala, and English literature.  Supported himself with various jobs.  Worked mostly as a journalist and editor, but also in the merchant marine and in building maintenance.  Did army reserve duty as a military journalist in the Six Day War, Yom Kippur War, and Lebanese War.  For the last twenty years, his modest income is mostly from his plays in Israel and abroad.

In 1963, the Cameri Theatre presented his first play, Tura, and since then he has written only plays.  His work includes two radio plays, Kapparot and The False Magician, which have been broadcast in Israel and in Europe.

In the course of almost forty years, with fourteen plays, he has been performed in all Israel’s repertory theatres.  A number of his plays have been published in Israel.  In 1974 he received the President Shazar Prize for playwrights.

Three of his plays have been performed successfully overseas for years:  in Brazil and especially in Russia, Ukraine, Latvia (including Latvian television), Poland, the Czech Republic (including Czech television), and recently in India.

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