The annual Kipod Hazahav (Golden Porcupine) competition for independent theater will kick off next month in Tel Aviv with 16 productions. 

These include Maya Arad Yasur’s How To Remain a Humanist After a Massacre in 17 Steps. The one-woman show, starring Michal Weinberg, deals with the aftermath of the October 7 massacre.

Another production in the competition that deals with Jewish responses to loss is The Polish Courier, a show based on the life of Polish resistance fighter Jan Karski, who gathered first-hand information about the Holocaust and delivered it in person to Western leaders during WWII.

This Russian-language production is by Takoy Teatron (So Theater), with Stanislav Kaplan playing Karski and Alexandr Korenman in the role of Szmul Zygielbojm. A member of the Polish government in exile, Zygielbojm took his own life in protest against the failure of the Allies to stop the genocide of the Jewish people.

The name of the theater is a Russian play on words; if someone would ask, “What kind of theater do you have?” the answer could be “So, theater,” as in a pause before a considered reply, Kaplan told The Jerusalem Post.

A celebration of Israeli theater

The theater places a strong emphasis on integrating new technologies into the drama. In this performance, the creators preprogrammed the AI tool Midjourney to produce images of Warsaw and Berlin from the relevant period. These are screened in the background, immersing the viewers in the atmosphere of the time and inviting them visually into the performance.

Kaplan was inspired to create this show when he read the 2019 book We are the Weather by Jonathan Safran Foer. The Jewish American author compared Karski with climate scientists who deliver truthful, yet devastating, information and are not believed.

“Most of the actors in this performance are people I met at Studio Merkaz, an acting studio where olim (new immigrants to Israel) learn Hebrew through acting,” he said. The Polish Courier will be shown on Thursday, October 24, in Russian and Hebrew with subtitles in both languages. 

“Our wish is to celebrate independent theater-makers,” artistic co-director Noa Shecter told the Post. “To be shortlisted for Kipod Hazahav gives new life to a performance because the audience has a fresh chance to watch it.”

Shecter noted that the 25 judges, all unpaid volunteers, watch 70 theater performances among them throughout the year, out of which only a few are chosen. Forty-five academy members watch these productions to decide who is worthy of a prize. The winners will be announced at a festive award ceremony at Tzavta Theater on Friday, November 29.

“I myself served as a judge for three years,” Shecter told the Post. “They work very hard, and I would warmly recommend this path to anyone who wants to really understand the theater scene in Israel.”

Writing in 1991, theater critic Shosh Avigal noted that it is nearly impossible that “the necessary brilliance required and the rare thespian feats” that justify a festival will “be born as if by special order, each year, like clockwork.”

She was referring to Theatronetto. This year, Kipod Hazahav will host a special panel where theater professionals will discuss whether this award-giving model remains valid. After all, unlike sports, it is difficult to tell which show is a “winner” and in what sense.

No person watches and grades all 70 performances on his or her own, Kipod Hazahav artistic co-director Moshe Perlstein explained. Instead, a group of viewers act as judges for each production. These viewers grade the production on a scale of one to 10 and divide the sum of the grades by the number of judges who watched the show to reach an average. 

Before selecting the final shortlist, judges hold a discussion to ensure that statistics do not obscure any particular merit of any performance.

The grading system used for the competition is the same, from one to ten, and the idea here is that the grades reflect each show’s specific category. For example, Full Tank competes only with other public space performances, while Polish Courier, for example, might get an award in a wide range of categories, ranging from best actor to best sound and music.

“Prizes create drama, and drama is good for theater,” Perlstein told the Post. “The goal is not to abolish award-giving but to question if our current system of selecting winners can be improved.”

Daniel’s Husband, one of the shortlisted performances in the competition, was directed by Rom Reznik. Written by Michael McKeever, the play explores a gay couple, one of whom very much wants to be married now that it’s legally possible, while his partner does not. Critics laud the play for introducing a highly relatable relationship issue within a wider, largely unexplored, queer context.

“There are queer values of tolerance, equality, and acceptance,” Reznik told the Post. “These values enrich both culture and theater down to the visual aspect, as queerness often challenges accepted norms of what things are meant to look like.”

Noting that gay representation in mainstream media often treats queer issues as an added layer to a bigger story, Reznik emphasized that “the more you engage within a specific theme, it becomes easier to reach a truly universal one.”

“This is something our theater proudly raised as its banner,” he concluded.

The Polish Courier will be shown on Thursday, October 24, 8 p.m., Malenky Theater, 8 Beit Ovad St., Tel Aviv, NIS 96 per ticket. Call 054-2348825 to book. Full Tank will be shown on Thursday, October 24, at 1 p.m., 10 Tayelet Mifratz Shlomo; outdoor performance, free admission. Daniel’s Husband will play on Thursday, November 14, 8 p.m., HaMesholash Theater, 22 Tchernichovsky St., NIS 80 per ticket. Visit https://www.hameshulash.com/ to book. For more information about the other shows mentioned or to book tickets, visit www.kipodhazahav.co.il