Haifa International Children’s Theater Festival 2011

School’s out, we’re celebrating our spring holiday of freedom and theatre is a wonderful way to let your fancy roam free – especially children’s theatre. If you have a child or know one, The Haifa International Children’s Theatre Festival makes a terrific Passover outing. Taking place from April 20 – 22 at the Haifa Theatre on the Carmel, this year’s festival celebrates the centennial of one of Israel’s best poets, and beloved poets for children: Lea Goldberg. The opening event will be a musical  homage to Lea Goldberg, directed by Roni Ninio.  Anya Bukstein, Keren Hadar, Sivan Bronstein, Ruby Kisos, Iftach Gefen and Shlomi Bartonov will sing Goldberg’s well known poems for children with music composed by talented artists who understand, as Goldberg did, that children deserve the best – Yoni Rechter, Sasha Argov, Shalom Hanoch, Miki Gavrielov, and a new composition from Rafi Kadishson, accompanied by the Haifa Symphony Orchestra.

The festival is an amazing marathon of plays for children of all ages, there really is something for everyone. The program includes: a competition of original Israeli plays, guest plays from Italy and Spain, two guest plays for the Haredi community, two guest plays in Arabic, and a score of guest plays in Hebrew. The full program can be found on the festival website, albeit in Hebrew, but the ages listed are a good guideline for suitability.

There will be several outdoor performances in the area around the theater during all three days of the festival, including a tribute to Goldberg in which the audience follows the performers on a fun jaunt encountering characters and familiar Goldberg stories, in a musical, acrobatic interpretation.

There are also several plays suitable for older children, in particular Click to the Heart and Things I Keep to Myself, while Treasure Mountain is sure to delight audiences of all ages. Have a fun holiday!

Haifa Theatre, 50 Pevsner Street, Haifa, 04-8600500
www.haifakids.co.il