A therapeutic fantasy about the romantics of gender
A depressed maiden, with a skull for a pet, fantasizes about becoming Hamlet – the ultimate tormented man. She longs to be a poet, to be a philosopher, to be an avenger, to be an actor, to be or not to be.
It is a dark and desperate night, and the agents of her troubled soul reveal themselves to her, manifesting as three demonic and mysterious figures. The trio promises to shake her out of her self-pity, to free her from her conceits, and above all – to cure her of her strange obsession with the same doleful Danish prince.
But their labor proves to be harder than expected.
How will they loosen the iron grip of this age-old archetype on her body and soul? Through a series of treatments – including coaching, psychoanalysis, gynecological surgery,
and a ritual of conversion for gender assimilation – they hope to put an end to her perpetual melancholy.
Is it possible to become a free woman without the tortured man?
Is it possible to awaken and still be dreaming?
Is it possible to part from Hamlet?
A fantastical theatrical journey through a labyrinth of veils, both tangible and metaphorical, constantly obscuring and revealing the layers of the soul that construct depression as an ideal.
Among the myriad images and elements – a skull, screeching crows, and the three mysterious figures – a kind of via dolorosa takes shape, by turns poetic, humorous, deep, multi-layered, imaginative, playful, and deranged.
Shows
Homemade Theater Ensemble
Homemade Theater Ensemble. 3 HaMeretz St., 3rd Floor, Tel Aviv (in Kiryat HaMelacha)
Credits
Creators: Bat El Dotan Yam Drori | Performers: Sahar Azimi, Ora Meirson, Duffy Katz, Yam Drori | Physical Dramaturgy: Sahar Azimi | Spacial Design and Lighting: Oded Komemi | Costume Consultant: Yehudit Aharon | Artistic Guidance: Avi Gibson Barel Itai Doron | Performance Artists Organization CEO: Ofra Pinker | Dramaturgy: Avi Gibson Barel | Photographer: Tomer Abend
This show was developed as part of the “Nekudat Katze” Program
Thank you to Adi Kahana for designing the torso element, to Theater in the Rough for the support, to Yoav Bartel and the Homemade Theater Ensemble, Mazeh 9, The Artists House in Yad Eliyahu, Shahaf Berger and the HaGra Community Center, Be-Ahava Studio/Gallery, JAR Old Jaffa Artists Residency, Anat Radnay and the EVE Organization, Oren Ailam, Jen Sundick, Rachel Jacobson.
And a special thanks to Tomer Abend and Natan Skop .