ONE LAST CIGARETTE

Written, directed, and choreographed by Abigail Rubin and Yoav Bartel

A Dance Theater Apocalypse

A playwright wakes from a nightmare predicting his last show will be taken off stage. Dazed, confused, and dressed in black, he stands before a cashier who looks frighteningly similar to his wife; before a waiter who reminds him of his very own self; and before a cruel audience with an elusive memory, while he tries to take advantage of every moment to ensure that he is not forgotten and that his legacy is not diminished before he dies.

The newest production by Yoav and Abigail, a couple on stage and in life, explores concepts of memory and forgetfulness. It extracts fear and hatred from the public sphere and places them into their own relationship as well as into their confusing encounter with everyday life and the audience.

Yoav Bartel and Abigail Rubin – directors, writers, choreographers – founded the theater group Homemade ensemble in 2010. The group’s performances combine theater and dance and are characterized by a blurring of boundaries between reality and fiction, stage and audience.

Throughout the last decade, they have directed no less than ten different productions, such as Shall We Dance (winner of best show, writer, performer, 2010), Yabalek (winner of best show, choreography, set and customs, 2015), Ambush (a site-specific performance), Drop Dead, 13 Fragments. In addition to performing and producing, Abigail and Yoav both teach in various institutions, training the next generation of choreographers, theatre producers and consumers of culture. Abigail coordinates the dance program at KiryatHinuchDror Highschool and is set to establish an interdisciplinary major there in performing arts. Yoav, a prominent improvisation instructor, teaches theater at Muzot High School in Jaffa and improvisation at the Israel Improv Theater. As of 2020, Yoav and Abigail have been teaching a composition course together in the dance track at Kibbutzim College of Education, Technology, and the Arts.


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