Baroness Rothschild
A dramatic historical play about Baroness Pannonica Rothschild, with a live orchestra. The performance takes place at the Ashkelon Cultural Center.
Additional Details
A powerful historical-human drama set between post–World War II Europe and New York’s jazz world of the 1950s.
At the center of the play is the true story of Pannonica (Nica) Rothschild, a baroness from the legendary Rothschild family. A wealthy, educated mother of five, she is trapped within a rigid social role: being the “pretty face” of a family defined by money and status. Behind the glamorous exterior is an unfree, emotionally oppressed woman controlled by her diplomat husband and her brother, Baron Rothschild, who leads the family.
The turning point comes when she is accidentally exposed to the music of Thelonious Monk, a brilliant yet ostracized and impoverished jazz pianist. His music shakes her and opens a deep crack in her identity.
Nica leaves her life in Europe and travels to New York, where she is drawn into the jazz world—a world of genius, addiction, racism, poverty, freedom, and chaos. She becomes a patron of Black musicians, foremost among them pianist Monk and legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker. She gives them money, shelter, a piano, the freedom to play—and above all, trust and respect.
But her involvement, even when motivated by love and a desire to save them, soon deteriorates: Parker dies in her room, Monk runs into trouble with the law, American society refuses to accept the breaking of racial and class barriers, the media revels in stories of “the corrupt baroness,” and her family in Europe disowns her. The tension between idealism and reality grows ever sharper.
Nica is forced to choose between the Rothschild name and the person she chooses to become. The freedom she grants others collides with personal pain: the children left behind, the relationship that fell apart, and the realization that true freedom is not romantic—it is painful, dangerous, and demands sacrifice.
The performance is accompanied by a live orchestra on stage.
Running time: 1.5 hours, without intermission
Written by: Yehonadav Tzedakah
Directed by: Gadi Tzedakah
Music: Yehonatan Perlman
Set design: Adam Keler
Lighting: Ziv Voloshin
Costumes: Yehudit Aharon
Poster photography: Pini Siluk
Cast: Neta Plotnik, Gil Weinberg, Gabriel Demidov, Ainos Aino, Adi Elmo, Tovit Samai, Oren Habut, Yiftach Kaminer, Erez Weiss, Shani Sarim
Photography: Pini Siluk
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