Levin, Hanoch

A descendant of the Hasidic rabbis . Parents emigrated to Palestine in 1935 from Lodz . Received a religious upbringing. At the age of 12, he lost his father, was soon forced to go to work, studied at evening school, at the same time was engaged in theater courses. He graduated from Tel Aviv University , where he studied philosophy and Jewish literature ( 1965 - 1967 ). In addition to plays, he published several books of poetry and prose, wrote songs.

Student years

After completing military service as an encoder in the communications forces, Levin began to study philosophy and Hebrew literature at Tel Aviv University (1964-67). In 1965, he became editor of the Dorban newspaper, one of the university’s student newspapers. Some of his works in this period of time were subsequently reprinted and edited quite strongly, such as, for example, Tempered, Ballad of a Soldier. And the work "Man and Woman" in June 1966 was renamed the "Black Eagle on the Red Roof" and published after the Lebanon War of 1982 . While studying at the university, Hanoch Levin was an active member of the Communist Party, it was there that he met with Denny Traz, a playwright in the Communist Youth League, warm friendships developed between them, and soon they found amazing similarities in views regarding their professional activities.

First works

In 1967, Levin published the poem “Birkhot Hashahar” (translated from Hebrew “Dawn of Blessing”) in the literary magazine “Yokhani”, where he first encountered criticism. The poem was later published in his collection of poems, The Life of the Dead. In “ Ha-Aretz ” he published the stories “The Stubborn Dina” (1966) and “Pshishpsh” (1971, published in the book “Eternal Unfaithful and Beloved”). as well as a series of poems, “The Festive Song of the Weak: An Idyll” (1968, later appeared in The Life of the Dead) and Damaged People (1970). After the invitation of Meir Weislater, in 1971 he began to publish stories and poems in the literary magazine “Exclamation Mark” (סימן קריאה): “The World of Sneak” in 1973, “The Hunchback Finds a Prostitute” in 1976, “Life of the Dead” in 1981 , other. In addition, in 1967, Levin sent a play to the radio, the title of which was “Catch the Spy” at the radio contest in Kol Israel and received the first prize. The show, led by David Levine, was shown several times. Levin's translation into English won the first prize in 1969 in the Italian Drama Radio Competition. Later, this translation was published in the book "Final".

Theoretical work

In 1967-70, Levin devoted himself to political satire. In March 1968, he began working in a cabaret show called "You, Me, and the Next War" with Edna Chavit. The show was made in August 1968 at the Bar-Barim Club in Tel Aviv by four Shavit students from the theater department of Tel Aviv University: Bat Sheva Zaisler, Shifra Milstein, Gad Kinar and Rami Peleg. Danny Traz was a producer. Further, Levin wrote a satire called “Ketchup.” Under the guidance of his brother David, she was performed in the basement of a satirical cabaret in Tel Aviv in March 1969. In these two works, Levin mocked the Israeli military pathos (as in the parody of the “Victory Parade during 11 Minutes of the War” from the General’s victory speech Shmuel Gonen at the close of the Six Day War ), the impotence and complacency of Israeli politicians ("peace talks in the Middle East"), also touched on the theme of the grave loss of the victims.

Criticism directed at Levin after “You and Me and the Next War” and “Ketchup” was further aggravated after his third political play, The Royal Bath, which was presented at the theater in April 1970. David Levin presented a rather controversial play, and was accused of vulgarity. The play also contained many provocative sketches, such as “Binding,” in which Isaac asks his father Abraham without hesitation to kill him, and “Courtship,” where the arrogance of the Jews is ridiculed. It can be assumed that such a storm of emotions was caused by the very fact that the play was played in the theater, many viewers protested and openly expressed their dissatisfaction during the performance. The National Religious Party demanded that the play be censored, as they said it offended scripture. The government also threatened to deprive the theater of financial support. Despite Levin’s objections, the theater’s management decided, in response to these indignant responses, to close the show after only nineteen performances.

Long-awaited success

The first artistic work of Levin was the comedy "The Power of Solomon", which premiered in May 1969 at the Open Theater under the direction of Hillelei Naaman. But only the next play brought Hanoch Levin such a long-awaited success, a play presented on the stage of the Haifa Theater in March 1972, the director of which was Oded Kottler . Levin's next play, Jacobi and Leiden, was first presented in December 1972 at the Cameri Theater. In the 1970s, he continued to write more provocative plays that immediately appeared on the stages of the Haifa Theater and the Cameri Theater. During this period, Levin also wrote two scripts: Flock, directed by Danny Woolman in 1972, and romantic fantasies, directed by Witek Traz. In 1977, both films received critical acclaim, but were received by the public without enthusiasm. The next heat of passion happened with the release of Levin’s new play “Working Passion” in 1981. The performance included a scene in which a naked worker, in the person of Joseph Carmon, was seated on a pole of a soldier belonging to the army of Caesar and was subsequently sold to the circus, as his agony could attract the public. Miriam Taaseh-Glaser, then deputy minister of education and culture, said in the Knesset that the state should not finance the theater, "where a naked guy hangs for ten minutes, waving everything that can be in front of the audience." Levin’s next play, The Great Babylonian Harlot (1982), provoked outrage even among his fellow Cameri theater actors, the main one of whom was Yosi Yadin. After this incident, the play was shortened by 20 minutes. Levin returned to writing plays with a political bias with the release of his new play “Patriot” which premiered in October 1982 at the Neva Tzedek Theater, directed by Oded Kottler. The performance presented to the attention of the viewer the story of an ordinary citizen of Israel who longs to emigrate to the United States. But for fulfilling the request, the American consul requires the Jew to spit in the face of his mother, hit the face of an Arab boy and laugh at God. Despite the fact that critics and many prominent figures banned the play, it was nevertheless staged. For this, an indictment was issued against the leadership of the theater. The play was presented only in a heavily edited version. In the 1980s, some critics claimed that Levin repeats and uses the same tricks in all of his works (Yakish and Poupche, Hamit Labet), although his later plays (“Dreamy Child”, “Those Who Walk in Darkness,” “ Rest ”and others) were widely recognized. In 1994, a film was made based on Dreamy Child, directed by Paye Lowy.

Other interests

Although the theater was his love, Levin also wrote some good songs over his life, published two books, and released a collection of poems, and was also the director of several episodes of the television show Leyla Jo.

State Drama Theater at the Foundry

• 2000 - “Lost in the Stars. Lost in the stars ", staged by Grigory Dityatkovsky based on the play" Traders of Rubber "translated by Valentin Krasnogorov [1]

Roman Viktyuk Theater

• 2006 - “The Incomprehensible Woman Living in Us”, staged by Roman Viktyuk based on the play “Love Games” translated by Mark Sorsky [2]

Theater Agency Art Partner XXI

• 2010 - “Traders of rubber” , staged by Victor Shamirov with the participation of Tatyana Vasilyeva , Efim Shifrin , Ivan Agapov , translation by Valentin Krasnogorov [3]

St. Petersburg Buff Theater of Music and Drama

• 2011 - “Hefets, or Everyone wants to live!” , Staged by Igor Mirkurbanov , translation by Marian Belenky [4]
• Educational Theater of the Theater Academy of St. Petersburg:
• “Pack our bags,” translation by Marian Belenky:

http://ptj.spb.ru/pressa/premiere/2014-2015/spb-uchebnyj-teatr-na-mohovoj-pakuem-chemodany/

Omsk Academic Drama Theater

• 2015 - "On the Suitcases", production by Bargman, Alexander Lvovich

https://omskdrama.ru/poster/repertoire/na-chemodanakh/

Laureate of the Bialik Prize ( 1994 ). In 2005, the main event of the Avignon festival was the production of Levin Crum drama by the Polish director Krzysztof Varlikowski ; in 2006 this production was shown at the Meyerhold Center in Moscow.

• Levin, Hanoch in Network Literature
• Roman Viktyuk showed in Moscow his new performance based on the play by Hanokh Levin
• Sketches of Hanoch Levin “What does a woman want?”
• Hanoch Levin. From the diary of the censor.
• At the beck and call of life. Review of the book by H. Levin "Creation of the world by limiting the space occupied by God: Favorites."
• "Spit", excerpt from the satirical revue "Patriot" (1982).
• sketches and plays by Hanokh Levin in the library of Maxim Moshkov
• The play based on the play by Hanokh Levin in the St. Petersburg theater "Buff"