Review: THE ROAD TO EIN HAROD at The Interdisciplinary Arena Theater

Silence, one man on stage. And then a song starts "The road to the group is neither short nor long" and then half ton of salt is throwing on stage. Zvi Sahar the adaptor, director and main actor of "The Road to Ein Harod" of The Interdisciplinary Arena Theater. The show is based on a book by Amos Kenan.

The plot is amazing! The story is about a dreamlike reality that takes place in Israel about a civil war following a military coup. The narrator is trying to escape from Tel Aviv to Kibbutz Ein Harod. During his journey, we get to know the people he meets on his way. At first, I was confused because I didn't realize that was a dreamlike reality and not something that happened in the past.

How long does it take to throw half a ton of salt on a stage? Apparently too long. The idea of doing it in front of the audience is good but unfortunately too long, how long can you watch that? The salt is a metaphor for the "the salt of the earth", the expression that opens the show.

The show is in the PuppetCinema technique. I think that Zvi Sahar brings something to the stage that I never saw before, the direction of the puppets, camera and actors is amazing. Yet it is clear that actors are better in there other roles as lightning operator, cinematographer, puppeteer etc.

The thing that shocked me the most was the set, all created from salt, buckets, miniatures etc. The camera angles and the set create realistic images of the story. It's well seen that there was a lot of thought on every centimeter. I found myself fascinated at various moments. The sound and music were well combined with the PuppetCinema technique.

The end of the show felt a little bit spread. I think it could be shorter. I could see the show end before the actual end and still get the same result. This is something different that is very rare in Israel. I think that both cinema lovers, theater lovers and art lovers could find a connection to this show.

The picture was taken by Yair Meyuhas.

Tickets available here.

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