2023 was undoubtedly one of the most turbulent years in Israeli history, marked by mass protests, political turmoil, a devastating massacre, and one of the worst wars in the Middle East in recent memory. In Simple Actions we meet an Israeli family that navigates the first months of that tumultuous year, leading up to October 7. Three family dinners draw us into their world, which is full of humor, sarcasm, old wounds, and new secrets. Yet beneath the family’s everyday rhythms, a specter looms: a presence they feel, seldom discuss, and often choose to ignore.
Simple Actions explores the generational divide within liberal Israeli families, capturing the dilemma of the younger generation, caught between political criticism of their country and their love for it. It’s the first production under Habima’s new artistic leadership, written by Yotam Gotal, Habima’s new resident playwright.
Yotam Gotal is a theatre director, writer and dramaturg. He holds an MFA in theatre directing and a BA in acting, both from Tel Aviv University, as well as an MA in philosophy. He’s the Chief Dramaturg and Resident Playwright of Israel’s National Theatre, Habima. He was the Head Dramaturg at the Khan Theatre in Jerusalem. He directed in the Khan Theatre, Tmu-na Theatre, Tel Aviv University Theatre, and more. He worked as an intern under René Pollesch at the Volksbühne Theatre in Berlin and was the dramaturg for The Dybbuk by the German collective KULA. He directed the Hebrew premiere of Bertolt Brecht’s Fatzer; an adaptation of Olga Tokarczuk’s Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead; a short film for the International Brecht Festival in Augsburg, Germany; and more. He translated The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui by Brecht; a stage adaptation of Jane Eyre; a stage adaptation of La Peste; and The Idiots by von Trier.
Ariel N. Wolf is a theatre director, movement designer, actor, and dramaturg; working in Israel’s repertory theatres, as well as in his independent theatre company. He worked as a movement designer with all major repertory theatres in Israel, as well as in opera and film, including films by Nadav Lapid, recipient of awards at the Cannes, Berlin, and Locarno film festivals. He directs contemporary plays and reinterprets classical texts (Macbeth, The Glass Menagerie, Oedipus and more). In his independent framework he focuses on recent contemporary plays from around the world, often introducing them to Israeli audiences. His latest production was an Israeli premiere of a play by the Austrian Nobel Prize-winning author Elfriede Jelinek. His work has received various awards in Israel and has been performed both in Israel and internationally.