About the performance
Babel's Odessa Stories are inspired by the Bible. From the Old Testament comes the conflict between the chosen Jewish people and the Russian state, which was destroying in pogroms the civilisation of a biblical people condemned for all time as criminal because the Jews had betrayed and condemned the Christian saviour. On this historical destiny, the Jews of Odessa built their New Testament paradise on earth, or rather in the underworld of Odessa: a paradise ruled by the laws of bandits and smugglers. Babel described the Odes bandits and their brutal reckonings; everyone was involved in terror and death, from the gang members to the craftsmen, the disabled old men and the child violin virtuosos of ethnically mixed Odessa. Jewish old men, mothers, fathers and children became the heroes of a new literary mythology, replacing the celestials of the old religion.
The writer saw both the cruelty of life and the enchantment of everyday birth and love, both the ugliness of violent death and the beauty of the sublime reality manifested in weddings, celebrations and religious customs. In this hell between the Tsar's army and domestic banditry, Babel's Jews were saved by their faith in the chosenness of the people and by the incredible fertility that substituted birth for death. Thus a heterogeneous mix of human characters emerged, belonging to the different nations of Odessa: the descendants of the ancient peoples were joined throughout history by the heirs of the conquerors, the Mongols, and then by members of Asian and European nations, from the Greeks to the Armenians, from the Jews to the Cossacks, from the Russians to the French, from the English to the Italians. Isaac Babel was an extraordinary stylist. He carried his prose around with him in his luggage, filing and carving it like a carver carves his statues – wherever he went, on the road and at rest. His metaphors are as picturesque as Jewish clothing and religious rituals; they express the writer's soul, which now yearns for a better life like a child, and now revels in the sight of the bleeding victims of pogroms and banditry. Birth and death are Babel's main themes, present in short, broken sentences from the beginning to the end of each story, and thus of the whole collection of Odessa Stories. With them, Babel – alongside Zamyatin, Pilnyak, Bulgakov and Platonov – became a pillar of stylised Russian prose between the two world wars.
The Story of My Dovecote is one of the most beautiful stories of childhood in all world literature, although, contrary to the traditional conception of this period as a lost paradise, it contains a surprising bitterness and a painful recollection of young years committed to a strict traditional upbringing. Overwhelmingly, the world around him is also still threatened by violence – 'a world in which the world of the child who went after the pigeons and survived the pogrom is not fulfilled, but melted away. The pigeons, of course, represent innocent dreams and desires, and the mutilated man the vain world that tramples them.
Babel is certainly not a larpurlartist. He was executed in the early 1940s for his social engagement and his criticism, which was in fact mostly a mirror. It is a historical fact that at its peak, Odessa was home to around 60,000 Jews. After the Second World War, they were practically gone. Anti-Semitism has a long tradition in Europe and there was no shortage of violence and intolerance towards Jews even before the Holocaust. Babel must have had a strong reason for writing such bitter and sad stories as its mentioned above. We have the typical Jewish hope to console us. For example: despite all the hardships of life at that time, the boy we meet in the story sees a future for himself. He wants to be a writer. He tries his hand at the violin. The Odessa Stories preserve human sobriety in the face of events worthy only of mad thoughts.
Robert Waltl celebrates his 35 years of artistic work in the theatre with this performance.
Isaac Babel
Odessa Stories / The Story of My Dovecote
Translation:
Sara Špelec
Director:
Robert Smolík
Puppets and set design:
Radka Mizerová
Music:
Veronika Svobodova
Acting and animation:
Robert Waltl
Director's assistant:
Barbara Vidovič
Language consultant:
Jože Faganel
Photo:
Igor Huzbašić
Musical coordinator:
Žarko Prinčič
Coproduction:
Mini teater
Jewish Cultural Center Ljubljana
1st Premiere:
23rd November 2024
2nd Premiere:
24th November 2024
Duration: 60 min
Mono performance with puppets
The show is also suitable for ages 12 and up
On the occasion of the 35th anniversary of Robert Waltl's artistic career
About the performance
Babel's Odessa Stories are inspired by the Bible. From the Old Testament comes the conflict between the chosen Jewish people and the Russian state, which was destroying in pogroms the civilisation of a biblical people condemned for all time as criminal because the Jews had betrayed and condemned the Christian saviour. On this historical destiny, the Jews of Odessa built their New Testament paradise on earth, or rather in the underworld of Odessa: a paradise ruled by the laws of bandits and smugglers. Babel described the Odes bandits and their brutal reckonings; everyone was involved in terror and death, from the gang members to the craftsmen, the disabled old men and the child violin virtuosos of ethnically mixed Odessa.
Ein eindringliches Porträt jüdischen Lebens in Prag – basierend auf Briefen, Erinnerungen und literarischen Fragmenten
Ottla David – Schwester Franz Kafkas – wächst in Prag auf, geprägt von familiärer Enge und geistiger Nähe zu ihrem Bruder. Während Franz mit Worten ringt, widmet Ottla sich dem Leben, dem Widerstand und schließlich den Kindern im Waisenhaus von Theresienstadt.
Das Stück rekonstruiert ihre Geschichte anhand erhaltener Briefe, Augenzeugenberichten und Erinnerungen ihrer Tochter Vera. Es entsteht das eindrucksvolle Bild einer mutigen Frau, deren Menschlichkeit selbst unter unmenschlichen Bedingungen nicht zerbricht.
Kafkas Zitate durchziehen das Stück wie eine geistige Verbindung – zart, poetisch und schmerzlich klar.
„Ottla“ ist ein stilles Stück Erinnerung, getragen von literarischer Kraft und historischer Wahrheit. Ein Monolog der leisen Stimmen.
Tickets sind über die Theaterkasse des Schlosstheaters, Schlossplatz 6a, 29221 Celle, unter Tel.
Theatre performance The Story of a Book. The Prague premiere of this original adaptation of the nearly century-long history of the Strach family from Brno is based on the story of a a holiday prayer book, the Machzor, confiscated during World War II in Terezín. After 82 years, it was rediscovered and returned to the family of its original owners. The Machzor was part of a collection of 12,000 prayer books confiscated from Jews in concentration camps on the territory of the Czech Republic.
As part of the Library of Stolen Hopes project, the Jewish Community of Brno strives not only to archive these books but above all to trace the descendants of the original owners and return the volumes to them.
Theater Performance “Life, Word and Destiny” by Nathan Alterman – as part of the “Anthology of Israeli Literature” program
A musical and poetic performance dedicated to the work of renowned Israeli poet Nathan Alterman. Directed by National Artist of the Republic of Moldova Iosif Shats, with musical arrangement by National Artist of the Republic of Moldova Marian Stârcea, the production brings Alterman’s poetry to life on stage, blending music and word in a moving and evocative theatrical experience.
The cast features actors from the State Russian Drama Theater and the National Theater "Satiricus".
Closing of the Month of Jewish Culture with a theatre play: “The Proposal” and “The Bear”
Director and Adaptation: Stefan Sablić
Costume and Set Design: Boris Čakširan
Stars:
The Proposal/Prosidba
Natalija Stepanovna – Anja Josifovski
Ivan Vasiljevič Lomov – Ivan Jevtović
Stepan Stepanovič Čubukov – Branislav Zeremski
The Bear/Medvjed
Jelena Ivanovna Popova – Sara Cizelj
Grigorij Stepanovič Smirnov – Ivan Jevtović
“The Proposal” and “The Bear”, one-act plays by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, bring us characters that are both tragic and comic at the same time. Playing what they don’t know about themselves, they discover the truth of life through comedy. Tragically funny, unaware of themselves, they draw us into a game full of love, conflict and liberation. They speak little, but reveal a lot – about themselves, about life, about all of us.
Concert “No Gevalt. Shalom”
In times of war, when unity among all citizens of Ukraine is more important than ever, it is vital to highlight the historical and cultural Jewish heritage as part of the shared history of the region. Eastern Galicia, with Lviv as its cultural center, has been a hub of Jewish life and literature in the Austrian Empire and Poland throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. The 2025 European Days of Jewish Culture theme, “People of the Book,” provides an opportunity to share this rich heritage with the local population.
The program includes a concert in the historic building of the former Jewish theater, consisting of two parts:
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Musical performance of “Stempenu” by Shalom-Aleichem featuring star actor Avi Hoffman (USA) accompanied by the Lviv Symphonic Orchestra
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Klezmer concert with local musicians and guests from Poland, Germany, and Norway, celebrating Jewish musical traditions.
The oldest Jewish musical in the world, "Las Coplas de Yosef Ha-Tsadik", based on the story of Yosef (Josip) and his brothers, directed by Stefan Sablić.
The idea for a re-staging of this work arose from the desire to revive the music of the biblical poem "Las Coplas de Yosef Ha-Tsadik" written in Ladino by Abraham Toledo in the 17th century in Istanbul. This is the oldest known Jewish musical and probably the first ever written.
Participating:
Ensemble "Shira U'tfila"
Choir "Braća Baruch"
Narrator: Zorana Bečić
Jakov: Nebojša Ljubišić
Dramatization and direction: Stefan Sablić
Composers: Stefan Sablić, Nenad V. Khan ("Esclaviko" and "Ande hay rozas I flores"), Aleksandar Simić (final)
Translation from Ladino: Drita Tutunović
Free entry.
The closing ceremony of the Month of Jewish Culture and the musical "Yosef and his brothers" will take place in the hall "Dom hrvatske vojske".
« En quoi cette nuit?… ", une pièce de théâtre écrite par Renaud et Barbara Tissier pour raconter leur famille, d’origine juive séfarade.
Le spectacle se jouera à partir du 24 septembre 2024 au théâtre de La Reine Blanche à Paris, dans le 18eme.
"En quoi cette nuit…?" c'est l'histoire de cette famille un soir de Pessah où l'on fait valser les souvenirs et la tradition dans un joyeux œcuménisme théâtral. Il est question d’anecdotes familiales, de déracinement, de transmission, de liturgie.
Un soir de Pâque… Nathalie prépare le repas traditionnel. Elle a promis. Promis de célébrer cette fête. A sa mère, comme une tradition. Guillaume est à l’étage, il répète pour son concert. Lui aussi aime les fêtes. Ils ne sont pas croyants.
Special Screening of "The Assembly: A New Musical Film", directed by Hershey Felder, PL/USA 2023, 98 MIN, documentary. The Assembly, a film written and directed by Hershey Felder, shot in Poland, was inspired by the work of Holocaust survivor Eva Libitzky, who lost her entire family in the Holocaust of World War II. Over the last 40 years of her life, Libitzky has made it her mission to tell her harrowing life story in hundreds of school assemblies so that young people in America will never forget what happened in Europe 80 years ago. Libitzky, 97, died in 2021 at her home in Florida, but this new documentary featuring eight former students at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts (SDSCPA) will continue her legacy.