Shards of Laughter is an intimate solo performance that weaves together a family story, memory, and live theatre through Gabriella Lev’s family journey, from Munkács to Auschwitz and on to Israel. The production unfolds a deeply human narrative: one of loss, survival, resilience, and the ongoing effort to build a life alongside memory.
Lev’s mother and the women around her are revealed through layers of time and remembrance. Lev embodies them with precision and sensitivity, moving between voices, generations and emotions, from pain and silence to unexpected humour. Shards of Laughter brings history to life as an experience shared with the audience.
Shards of Laughter offers a powerful theatrical experience, not through grand statements, but through small and true human stories, living memory, and moments when laughter emerges where it is least expected.
Gabriella Lev is a director, actress, creator, and Artistic Director of the Jerusalem Theatre Company. In 1984 Lev founded the Jerusalem Theatre Group, the oldest working Israeli fringe group. Lev’s vision was to establish a groundbreaking theatre that draws on Jewish texts and puts women at the forefront.
Lev manages unique projects of empowerment through theatre, such as connecting religious and secular women, and theatre for the elderly. In 2016, Lev won the Fringe Theatres Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to Israeli theatre.
Yael Valier has been involved in the Israeli English-speaking theatre scene for twenty years as an actor, writer, director, and voice actor. She holds an MFA in performance art from Tel Aviv University, and is a graduate of Matan’s Ayanot program, with an emphasis on biblical studies. She taught theatre for many years at Midreshet Emuna v’Omanut, and drama at Midreshet Darkaynu and at Yachad, to adults with special needs. Valier was a member of the David Cardozo Academy think tank. She runs and teaches Bibliodrama workshops for Jewish and non-Jewish groups. She directs for other theatre companies, most recently Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?