Since my partner received his order for reserve duty, I’ve been writing, documenting and screen shooting our conversations. I’m at the home front, and he’s at war. Fronts is a documentary performance about a relationship during an ongoing war. He is repeatedly called up for reserve duty: Gaza, Lebanon, and Gaza again. I’m trying to hold on: WhatsApp chats, laundry, and a performance written in real time, between deployments, focusing on those who stay behind to protect home and sanity.
Fronts draws on autobiographical material: text messages, journals, silence and moments of emotional outbursts. The focus is on the body, on an intimate relationship. The theatrical language turns the body into text, weaving together movement, sound, and humor.
The piece received the Israeli Fringe Award for Best Direction and Movement Design, and was praised for its courage, honesty, and distinctive theatrical language.
Shahar Berkowitz is a creator, playwright, director, choreographer, and performer, working in theatre and dance. She holds a B.Ed in Dance and an M.A in Psychodrama from Kibbutzim College of Education. Her work integrates body, texts, and performance. Her distinctive stage language moves between documentary and poetic expression and includes collaborations with creators and directors. Fronts won Israeli fringe Awards 2025 for Best Director and Movement Design, and the Acco Festival 2023 for Movement Design Award.
Gilad Chen is a theatre director, playwright, actor, and composer. He holds a degree in directing from Kibbutzim College of Education and studied in New York and Berlin. His works tour extensively in Israel. His creations seek to develop a stylized and poetic theatrical language, integrating music, text, and movement, exploring pain, humor, fear, and intimacy. His work is political and personal, an ongoing search for compassion, connection, and humanity. He is a co-recipient of the Israeli fringe Awards 2025 for Best Director, Soliko Festival, 2021 Best Production and Audience Choice awards, and more.