Avishai Milshtein

Avishai Milshtein (Hebrew: אבישי מילשטיין; born 1964) is an Israeli playwright, theatre director, actor, translator, and dramaturg.

Biography

Avishai Milshtein grew up in Ramat Gan.[1] He is the only child of two Polish-born parents who were Holocaust survivors.[2]

He began acting in plays at the age of ten at the Eretz Oz Theater.[3] He appeared in children’s plays such as Heidi, Hannah’s Sabbath Dress, Tom Sawyer,[4] and Hasamba (playing the role of Yaron Zahavi).[5] He also had small roles in the film Noa at 17 (directed by Isaac "Zepel" Yeshurun, 1982).[6] He graduated from the Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts, majoring in theater (1978–1982).[7] While a student at Thelma Yellin, he performed in the school’s production of The Threepenny Opera by Brecht and Weill. Impressed by the work, Milstein decided to study the German language. He studied at the Goethe-Institut in Tel Aviv and Düsseldorf (1981–1985).[8]

Career

At the age of sixteen, in 1980, Milstein directed for the first time a work he had written - The Sparrow, an opera composed by Dori Parnes (then seventeen); a co-production between Thelma Yellin and Beit Lessin Theater, May 1980.[9] In the Israel Defense Forces, he served as a radio operator in the Signal Corps, Central Command.[10]

His play Then As Death (Az Kamavet), directed by Shoshana Riseman, was presented at the Acco Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre in 1987 and received an honorable mention for both the play and the production.[11] He studied theater, literature, and German philology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany (1986–1990).[3] Starting in 2003, he taught dramatic writing at the University of Hildesheim, Germany,[12] and taught at the Berlin University of the Arts.[13] Founder and head of the Theater Department at Alliance High School, Tel Aviv (1997–2001).[14]

Milstein founded the Notzar Theater, together with Dalit Milstein (no family relation), and served as its artistic director and as the director of the Association for the Advancement of Theater in Jaffa (1991–2004).[15] The Notzar Theater’s first production was The War Plays by Edward Bond. The production was staged at the Acco Festival in October 1992 and won awards for design and guest performance.[16] In 1997, Milstein directed the Israeli premiere of the classic play Penthesilea by Heinrich von Kleist, produced by the Notzar Theater.[17] The production was later presented at the Trailblazers Festival in Aachen, Germany.[15]

His first play to be staged in a repertory theater was Piwnica, which he also directed at Habima Theatre in 1994.[18] He served as a dramaturg for the Habima Theatre from 1990 to 1995.[19] Guest dramaturg for the production of The Merchant of Venice, directed by Hanan Snir, at the Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle Weimar in Weimar (1995) and at the Israel Festival in Jerusalem (1996).[14] Dramaturg and artistic consultant for the Beit Lessin Theater since 1995.[20] In 1996, he received the America-Israel Cultural Foundation directing Scholarship.[14]

In 2001, he was one of the three directors of the Israeli TV Sitcom "Shachar".[21] In 2012, he performed in the play “Maxi and I”, which was staged at the Beit Lessin Theatre.[22] In 2023, he played in the TV series "Berlin Blues", produced by yes.[23]

Founder and artistic director of the “Curtain Opens” Festival for Young Israeli Playwriting at Beit Lessin Theatre since 2000, in which 300 plays were staged over its first 20 years.[24] He initiated “IsraDrama – A Spotlight on Israeli Drama”,[8] a collaboration between The Hanoch Levin Institute of Israeli Drama, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Culture. He served as the festival’s artistic director in 2005,[25] 2010, and 2012.[26] In 2005, he founded the “Opening Stage” Festival for Young Israeli Playwriting at Beit Lessin Theatre.[27] In 2012, he founded and managed the Playwriting School of Beit Lessin Theatre in collaboration with Stage Center.[24]

In 2007, he directed “Murder” by Hanoch Levin as part of the F.I.N.D. Festival at the Schaubühne Theatre, Berlin. In 2008, he directed “Mein Kampf” by George Tabori at the Theater Freiburg, Germany, in collaboration with the E-Werk Museum. The play tells the story of a Jew who mentors the young Hitler and inspires him to write Mein Kampf.[28] He served as co-artistic director (together with Jan Linders) of the project “Familienbande” (“Family Ties”), a joint initiative between Beit Lessin Theatre, Tel Aviv, and the Heidelberg Municipal Theatre, Germany.[29] The project presented six bi-national productions beginning in May 2009.[30] Milstein directed “The Banality of Love” by Savyon Liebrecht at Beit Lessin Theatre in January 2009.[31] The production won the 2010 Israeli Theatre Award for Best Original Play of the Year.[32] It opened the "Stuckemarkt" festival, Heidelberg, in 2010 and was later hosted by the Theater Freiburg in May of that year.[33] In 2011, he directed “The Merchant of Venice” by Shakespeare at the Theater Freiburg, Germany, with Doron Tavori in the lead role.[34] In 2015, Beit Lessin Theatre premiered his play “Don’t Forget to Love – Love Hurts.” The production is based on 35 interviews with Israeli and German mixed couples, telling their stories 70 years after Auschwitz and exactly 50 years after the signing of diplomatic relations between Germany and Israel. The play was staged as a co-production with the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe.[35]

Personal life

He is married to Marit Joffe-Milstein, a former actress They live in Tel Aviv and have three children.[36]

Book

Editor and co-chief contributor of the book Israeli drama: synopses of selected Hebrew plays for distribution through Israel’s official cultural delegations and to international festival directors. The project was initiated and published by Kashtum — the Department of Cultural and Scientific Relations of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs — in 2000;[37] a revised edition edited by him was published in 2009.

Prizes and Awards

Playwright

  • 1980 - “The Sparrow”, Beit Lessin Theater.[9]
  • 1984 - “The Bondage”, Tsavta, Tel-Aviv.[41]
  • 1987 - “Then As Death”, Acco Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre. (special prize for the best play).[42]
  • 1987 - “Around the World in 80 Days”, Tzavta.[43]
  • 1991 - “Ma’ayan”, an opera (Music: Dori Parnes), Nissan Nativ Acting Studio.[44]
  • 1994 - “Piwnica”, (The Beer Cellar), Habima Theatre.[45]
  • 1996 - “My Affair with Brecht”, Haifa Theatre.[46]
  • 1998 - “To Be Or Not To Be”, (co-author: Roni Pinkovitch), Haifa Theatre.[47]
  • 2000 - “The Border and the Return”, Notzar Theatre, Tel-Aviv;[48] Reading during the Australian National Playwrights’ Conference, Dir.: Sue Rider, Canberra, Australia, 2001; Reading at the Act-in theatre festival in Luxembourg, November 2001.
  • 2008 - "A Hole in the Clouds", commissioned by the "Maxim-Gorki-Theater", Berlin; Staged reading at the IsraDrama Festival.[49]
  • 2015 - Love Hurts; Co-Production of Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe & Beit-Lessin, Tel-Aviv.[22]
  • 2021 - Oedipus, after Sophocles; Notzar Theatre, Bat-Yam.[50]
  • 2023 - The Peacemaker (Die Freidensstifterin); Staatstheater Kassel. (Guest performances in Berlin, Katowice, Hessian Theatre Days – Giessen).[51]
  • 2024 - Shame Fall Fugue; Staged reading: Munich Kammerspiele, Munich. (Reprinted in Theater der Zeit).[52]
  • 2025 - Dualidarity (Dualidarität); Heimathafen Berlin; (Guest performances in Berlin, Frankfurt am Main).[53]

Director

References

  1. ^ Dov Alfon (October 14, 1987). In the Direction of the Wind. Koteret Rashit. p. 43.
  2. ^ Hila Aharon Brick (September 2, 2015). An interview: Love stories between individuals and between nations. Habama.
  3. ^ a b Yaron Fried (November 19, 1987). Theatre Critic: The Power of Air Conditioning. Hadashot. p. 23.
  4. ^ Yaron Fried (July 20, 1988). The Never-Ending Hanale. Koteret Rashit. p. 45.
  5. ^ Aya Orenstein (October 7, 1976). Hasanba and purple light. Maariv.
  6. ^ Noa at 17. Israel Film Fund.
  7. ^ Haim Nagid (January 11, 1991). What We Had in 1992. Maariv. p. 6.
  8. ^ a b Merav Yudilevich (March 10, 2008). Who invented Hitler?. Ynet.
  9. ^ a b Sigal Reshef (October 2, 1987). When I Grow Up. Ha'ir. p. 33.
  10. ^ Avishai Milshtein. Ishim.
  11. ^ Haim Nagid (October 14, 1987). Acre: First Prize for “Widows”. Maariv.
  12. ^ Zipi Shohat (April 27, 2003). Avishai Milstein writes a play for a Berlin theatre about Holocaust commemoration in the city. Haaretz.
  13. ^ Lilach Gavish (April 19, 2009). Interview: Enemies, A Love Story. Habama.
  14. ^ a b c d e Avishai Milshtein. Habama.
  15. ^ a b c Gad Kaynar (December 2016). Being Avant-Garde in the Province: Notzar Theater Celebrates 25 Years of Alternative Creation in Bat Yam. Gad Kaynar, Haim Nagid (ed.).Teatron - An Israeli Quarterly for Contemporary Theatre 42, p. 90-112.
  16. ^ a b (December 1, 1992). Premier Productions in Israeli Theatre September-November 1992. Bama.
  17. ^ Avishai Milstein (April 1998). The riddle that hinders the conquest of Troy. Iton 77. Vol. 218. pp 32-33.
  18. ^ Piwnica. Habima Theatre.
  19. ^ Avishai Milshtein. Habima Theatre.
  20. ^ (May 22, 2018).Mother Teresa Is Gone at the Haifa Theatre. Habama.
  21. ^ Noam Segev (July 15, 2001). Itai Segev playing Tootsie. Ynet.
  22. ^ a b c Maya Nahum Shachal (September 3, 2015). "Germany Is Also Home". Calcalist.
  23. ^ Berlin Blues. Yes.
  24. ^ a b Jacob Bar-On (September 2, 2021). Avishai Milstein: “Our vision is to create the classics of the generations to come.” Maariv Online.
  25. ^ Zipi Shohat (November 18, 2007). Too much Hanoch Levine. Haaretz.
  26. ^ Maya Nachum- Shachal (October 16, 2012). Drama Queen: Maya Tavi on Her Role in Representing Israel’s Leading Playwrights Worldwide. Calcalist.
  27. ^ Zipi Shohat (May 3, 2004). Play Reading Festival at Beit Lessin Theatre. Haaretz.
  28. ^ Jonathan Scheiner (May 10, 2007). Israelische Regisseure beim Berliner Theatertreffen »tt 07«. Jüdische Allgemeine.
  29. ^ Ayelet Dekel (October 3, 2011). Beit Lessin & Heidelberg: Family Ties, The Next Generation?. Midnight East.
  30. ^ Michael Handelzalts (December 26, 2012). German-Israeli Co-production Is Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts. Haaretz.
  31. ^ Michael Handelzalts (February 18, 2009). Love and Time. Haaretz.
  32. ^ Michal Palati (May 16, 2010). Israeli Theatre Award winner: "The Banality of Love". Haaretz.
  33. ^ a b Zipi Shohat (November 19, 2009). Avishai Milstein will direct a third play in Germany. Haaretz.
  34. ^ Annette Hoffmann (March 19, 2011). Der Kaufmann von Venedig – Avishai Milstein betrachtet Shakespeare interkulturell. Nachtkritik.de.
  35. ^ (September 30, 2015). To love and be. deutschland.de.
  36. ^ Jacob Bar-On (January 13, 2022). “His Death Was an Indescribable Shock”: Adam Milstein Talks About the Song He Wrote in Memory of Ari Nesher. Maariv Online.
  37. ^ Israeli drama: synopses of selected Hebrew plays / [editor, Asher Weill
  38. ^ Adam Horowitz (November 6, 1987). Once There Were Two Friends. Ha'ir.
  39. ^ (May 14, 2010). The winners of the Israeli Theater Award have been announced. Nrg Maariv.
  40. ^ Ben Nahum translator's prize for Oslo
  41. ^ Amir Orian (May 27, 1983). Come to me, nice devil. Ha'ir. p. 37.
  42. ^ Haim Nagid (October 21, 1987). Acre Theatre Festival. Bamahane. p. 47.
  43. ^ Yair Lapid (October 28, 1987). Around Tzavta in 80 Days. Bamahane. p. 25.
  44. ^ a b Tammy Lubich A directors' fantasy. Hadashot.
  45. ^ (June 15, 1994). Bama: Drama Quarterly. Vol. 136 (28). p. 102.
  46. ^ “My Affair with Brecht”. Haifa University Library.
  47. ^ Moshe Ben-Shaul (April 1, 1992). Habima: Focusing on Original Plays. Maariv. p. 29.
  48. ^ Gad Nahshon. Notzar Theater: "The Milstein Connection". The Jewish Post.
  49. ^ Merav Yudilovich (December 2, 2008). The “Isra-Drama” Events Are Underway.
  50. ^ a b Anat Zecharia (October 17, 2021). Interview: Dan Shapira Releases Oedipus. Habama.
  51. ^ Leander F. Badura (October 17, 2023). Nahost-Konflikt auf der Bühne: Oh, Israel, oh, Palästina, vertragt euch doch!“. Der Freitag.
  52. ^ Schamfrist und Schamgrenzen und Schamherbstfuge. Theater der Zeit.
  53. ^ Leonie Ettinger (April 10, 2025). Bissige Kritik an deutschen Kulturschaffenden: Dualidarität“ von Avishai Milstein. Der Freitag.
  54. ^ Hagar Ram (March 9, 1990). Opened and closed with Hanoch Levin. Hadashot.
  55. ^ Shosh Avigal (May 5, 1993). How Sad the World Is. Hadashot. p 44.
  56. ^ (November 1992). Bama: Drama Quarterly. Vol. Ruth Blumert and Dwora Gilula (ed.) 130 (27), p. 99.
  57. ^ Nurit Yaari (ed., 2005) On Kings, Gypsies and Performers: The Theatre of Nissim Aloni. Tel Aviv University, HaKibbutz HaMeuhad. p. 346.
  58. ^ Dani Yashiv (July 29, 1992). Theatre. Bamahane. p. 45.
  59. ^ (March 26, 1993). Ba'al. Hadashot. p. 44.
  60. ^ Gad Kaynar (1994). Vol. 138 (28). Bama: Drama Quarterly. Benjamin Ventura and Dwora Gilula (ed.). p. 74-75.
  61. ^ (September 6, 1994). Premier Productions in Israeli Theatre. Bama: Drama Quarterly. Vol. 137 (28). p. 132.
  62. ^ (May 15, 2000). Collected Stories. Beit Lessin.
  63. ^ (2002). A Place. Habama.
  64. ^ Zvi Goren (February 7, 2004). Rhinoceroses – The Entire Stage Is Reality. Habama.
  65. ^ (November 6, 2004). Between Us. Beer-Sheva municipal theatre.
  66. ^ Weekend Caesara. National Library of Israel.
  67. ^ A Paper Panther. Habama.
  68. ^ Zvi Goren (May 18, 2004). Opening the Curtain – Four Winners of Creative Scholarships. Habama.
  69. ^ (December 7, 2005). 4. Of November. Habama.
  70. ^ (February 2, 2007). One Hundred. Habama.
  71. ^ (June 1, 2009). Amos Yovel and Dwora Gilula (ed.). Premier Productions in Israeli Theatre. Scene&Screen Theatre Arts: Drama Quarterly. p. 91.
  72. ^ Martin Eich (December 29, 2010). "Nicht jeder darf über Hitler lachen". Die Welt.
  73. ^ Eyal Meluban (August 21, 2010). Intrigue, Broken Hearts, and Guy Meroz: The “Open Stage” Festival Kicks Off. Ha'ir.
  74. ^ Zvi Goren (September 27, 2011). Review: Opening Stage 2011 – The Germans Are Coming. Habama.
  75. ^ Zipi Shoshat (March 10, 2011). “The Merchant of Venice” will be staged in Germany; Doron Tavory will play Shylock. Haaretz.
  76. ^ (October 1, 2013). Premier Productions in Israeli Theatre. Scene&Screen Theatre Arts. Vol. 10. p. 81.
  77. ^ Maya Cohen (July 15, 2014). The Show Must Go On. Israel Hayom.
  78. ^ Ofir Hillel (September 12, 2016). Philoctetes: A play for the soul, not for the box office. Makor Rishon.
  79. ^ Anat Zecharia (September 15, 2016). Interview: Notsar Theatre – Rebellious and Disrupted Art. Habama.
  80. ^ Magdi Aboul-Kheir (October 9, 2017). : Sehenswert: Das schneeverbrannte Dorf im Podium. Südwest Presse.
  81. ^ Merav Yudilevich (May 31, 2018). Interview: Avishai Milstein Tears Off the Masks. Habama.
  82. ^ (July 23, 2020). The Tin Can People 2020 at Notzar Theatre. Habama.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.