Show No. 1 - "The Rebellions" - A new Israeli play by Amnon Levy

"The Rebels" – A new Israeli play by Amnon Levi

In Mea Shearim, a group of women has decided to rebel against the community leadership to save one of their own from a miserable and violent marriage. They use the only ancient and effective weapon at their disposal: abstaining from relations with their husbands. They refuse to go to the mikveh and launch a campaign of sexual abstinence until their friend is freed from her marital bonds.

"The Rebels" is an emotional and humorous drama by Amnon Levi, who brings a struggle for women's equality to the most unexpected place. The women of the Haredi neighborhood decide that the value of mutual aid for a woman in distress outweighs even the commandment to be fruitful and multiply. They bravely confront the men, suffer ostracism and persecution, yet continue their fight despite the heavy price.

Levi, who wrote "Shaindelle"—one of the great successes of the Israeli theater—returns to the Haredi woman in Mea Shearim and documents her struggle for independence. Levi draws inspiration for the play from a similar act of sexual abstinence that recently took place in Satmar, New York, demanding the release of an agunah (a woman chained to a dead or missing husband). That move succeeded and shocked the Haredi world.

Cast: Shlomo Baraba, Rona Lee Shamai, Henry David, Tali Sharon, Nati Kluger, Noa Rabino, Maïr Toledo, Gil Weiss
Director: Yehzekal Lazrosov
Playwright: Amnon Levi