Theatre CompanyJerusalem fuses contemporary performing arts with ancient Hebrew and Aramaic writings to create theatre. Gabriella Lev, artistic director and co-founder initiated the formation of the company in 1982 to release the silenced voice of women within Jewish tradition. She was joined by fellow artists Aliza Elion-Israeli, Ruth Wieder-Magan and Joyce Miller. Their vision of forging a theatre which is reflective of Jerusalem’s cultural and geographical context, grounded in Jewish texts and employing new forms and techniques of theatrical expression is forever coming into being. Theatre Company Jerusalem also performs and teaches throughout Israel and the world, in both English and Hebrew. TCJ has created 36 original theatrical and musical works – see list below.
Theatrical Influences and Techniques
Major artistic influences in their works were; Director Jerzy Grotowski's work with Serge Ouaknine, Andre Gregory and The Roy Hart Theatre.
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible. Midrash is a way of interpreting biblical stories that goes beyond simple distillation of religious, legal or moral teachings. It fills in many gaps left in the biblical narrative regarding events and personalities that are only hinted at.
The Hebrew word Bama has three meanings; 1) a stage on which a theatrical creation is presented 2) The raised area in a synagogue on which there is a table. This table is used to lay The Torah Scroll on, in order that the reader can read aloud the weekly portion from the Bible, 3) In ancient times, the plural of the wordbama, bimot, signified raised areas of ritual which included an altar and some kind of sculpture.
In “midrash Bama” the tern coined by the company, it is explained that the practice of ‘MIdrash bama’ is throwing new light on the meaning of ancient texts by their transformation from the medium of the written word to the stage and performance Midrash performance uses the whole range of the human capability in art, to convey a meaning that only becomes fully apparent when placed in front of an audience. The performer, must have a highly trained body and voice, and spend many years refining and making the flexible connection between feeling, thought, psychic life and physical action. Thus on stage, they can interpret the midrash in its original language, using different tones of voice and singing, dance and movement and the particular juxtaposition of all these different human elements. It is the interpretation of the language, and the real-time encounter with the audience which gives birth to a particular meaning. Into midrash-bama come elements of colour, elements of rhythm, texture and editingadditions, which have been highly thought out and prepared before. But the actual midrash-bama which takes place in real time, is often very different in each performance, See also Contemporary Midrash
Educational-Artistic Programs
The company’s work has led to the creation of a method for learning, perceiving and internalizing texts. TCJ creates and Produces an annual Midrash Bama festival whose aim is to present multidisciplinary theatre in an intimate setting in order to promote dialogue and intimacy. Throughout the years a diversified community of artists and teachers has grown around the company. Through its work, this multi-disciplinary group tests the boundaries of theatre, art, religion, gender, social processes and the relationships between them. These collaborations have created of a variety of courses: Women’s Empowerment and Leadership, Empowerment for Young Women and Girls, Projects to integrate Young Women in Distress within various courses, Teacher Training in Jewish Studies and an annual Festival for Young Women Artists.
