{"id":13435,"date":"2011-07-05T02:58:33","date_gmt":"2011-07-05T09:58:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=13435"},"modified":"2011-07-06T23:55:30","modified_gmt":"2011-07-07T06:55:30","slug":"all-about-eve-beer-sheva-theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=13435","title":{"rendered":"All About Eve – Beer Sheva Theatre"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Rama Messinger, Alon Ofir and Yonit Tobi in All About Eve\/Photo: Rinat Halon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Beer Sheva Theatre production of All About Eve<\/em><\/strong>, directed by Aya Kaplan, is a fun excursion to a realm where divas are divas, theatre is glamorous, and evil wears a sweet pink dress.<\/p>\n

Margo Crane (Rama Messinger) is a famous actress, \u201ca dream when she is not a nightmare\u201d appearing in one hit after another penned by her friend the playwright Lloyd Roberts (Amir Kriaf) and directed by her current beau, Clement Howell (Yaron Brovinsky\/Ron Biterman). Everyone dances to Margo\u2019s impetuous tune, including her friend Karen Roberts (Shiri Golan), Lloyd\u2019s wife. The only one who dares give her a hard time is her assistant Lyla (Ora Meirson). Cue: enter Eve, the young star-struck fan (Yonit Tobi) who has seen every performance of the play and dreams of meeting her idol, Margo.<\/p>\n

For those readers who don\u2019t know all about it, the play is based on a short story by Mary Caswell Orr, The Wisdom of Eve<\/em>, first published in Cosmopolitan in 1946, and later developed into the Academy Award winning film All About Eve (1950), directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, with Bette Davis in the lead role. While those familiar with the film will enjoy comparing the two (with a fun wink in the direction of Marilyn\u2019s famous, though out of context, cover of \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d), the play holds its own admirably as a separate entity. Ironically, while the film is quite involved with the issue of theatre vs. film, this theatrical version downplays that theme.<\/p>\n

The story takes place almost exclusively in and around the theatre \u2013 onstage, backstage, and in the dark back alleys. Kaplan takes advantage of the self-referential aspect, utilizing the space of the theatre with actors not only onstage, but seated amidst the audience, moving through the aisles and looking down from the balcony. Set and costumes \u2013 both beautifully lush and evocative of the period, (respectively designed by Yehudit Aharon and Mony Madnik) do double duty as set and costumes in the brief snatches of the play within the play, underscoring one of the main themes \u2013 the fragile, fraught and intricate relationship between theatre and reality.<\/p>\n

The enduring quality of the work lies in the witty, fast-paced script that strikes at some serious issues, even as it entertains – here in an excellent translation and adaptation by Nir Erez and Aya Kaplan. Taking the audience behind the scenes, into the conflicts between playwright and actors, stars and wanna-be-stars, the tension between building a career and having a life \u2013 these conflicts are ever-relevant, and always fascinating.<\/p>\n

Appropriately named for the first and most famous leading lady \u2013 Eve \u2013 the play is as much about women as it is about theatre: their friendships, rivalries and internal conflicts. The three female leads represent different stages and choices in a woman\u2019s range of possibilities, with Margo as the successful career woman who has perhaps sacrificed her personal life for the sake of her profession; Karen has made the opposite choice \u2013 ever in the shadows of her husband and friend, always playing a supporting role in life; and the young Eve, with many crucial choices in the making.<\/p>\n

One of the issues addressed in the play is the lack of roles for mature actresses \u2013 a situation which has perhaps improved somewhat in recent years, yet is still painfully relevant. Fighting to remain at the top of her profession requires the 40 year old Margo to continue to portray the young ing\u00e9nue roles created by her friend Lloyd, yet she rebels, dissatisfied with the new play he has written for her, saying, \u201c25 year old Cora is dreamy and fragile\u2026Do I look fragile?\u201d He has the ultimate answer to this argument, saying, \u201cThe play will succeed without you.\u201d Left without many options, Margo walks out of the room and the new role, saying, \u201cGoodnight Mr. Ibsen, I\u2019m too old to play in your doll house.\u201d<\/p>\n

One\u2019s interpretation of the play and its themes depends on one\u2019s interpretation of Margo. Is she a has-been over-the-top diva with an inflated ego, narcissistic, domineering, selfishly concerned only with preserving her disappearing looks and status, or is she an intelligent, talented woman frustrated by the superficial nature of her profession trying to use her leverage to introduce change? She\u2019s all of above and then some; it\u2019s one of the best roles ever written for a woman. The current production seems to lean in the direction of diva Margo, and Messinger hams it up delightfully. Yet some of the quieter moments, such as when Margo sits apart from the group at Clement\u2019s birthday party, listening to Eve enthuse about the theatre, reveal a deeper potential that could have been attained with a more restrained performance.<\/p>\n

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Yonit Tobi walks off with Alon Ofir, as Rama Messinger casts an eloquent look\/Photo: Rinat Halon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In this respect, some of the smaller, supporting roles add a welcome texture to the play. Meirson is subtly hilarious as Lyla, Margo\u2019s cheeky assistant. Her nuanced gestures – a tilted, skeptical shoulder as she listens to Eve regale the room with her sad life story; checking her watch; drawing a handkerchief out of her sleeve; the disapproving clack of her heels as she leaves a room \u2013 along with her rubbery, expressive features and great delivery are lots of fun. Golan brings warmth and a measure of complexity to Karen, who goes through several shifts of attitude and understanding in the course of the narrative.<\/p>\n

But it is Yonit Tobi, as the not-quite-so-innocent ing\u00e9nue Eve, who really won me over in this production \u2013 yet another reflection in this mirror-play of life and theatre. Her delicate, petite frame is an asset in this role, emphasizing her girlish simplicity in contrast with the elegant, yet somewhat hardened Margo. Tobi brings warmth and enthusiasm to her portrayal of Eve. Even this cynical writer, who was well acquainted with Eve\u2019s tricks and manners, was completely won over by her charm. Her interpretation of the role introduces a sense of ambiguity and depth to the character \u2013 yes, ultimately one knows that Eve is a scheming liar who will say and do anything to get ahead, but Tobi succeeds in convincing (this writer, at least) that her love of the theatre is genuine and passionate, and with that, she claims my sympathy and understanding.<\/p>\n

While the male actors may feel somewhat neglected in this review, it’s not for lack of appreciation – there were some fine performances by the men – but it really is all about the women.<\/p>\n

All About Eve by Mary Orr, translated by Nir Erez and Aya Kaplan
\nDirected by Aya Kaplan
\nSet design: Yehudit Aharon
\nCostume design: Mony Madnik
\nLighting design: Amir Brenner
\nMusic: Dori Parnes
\nChoreography: Or Morag
\nCast: Rama Messinger \u2013 Margo Crane; Yonit Tobi \u2013 Eve Harrington; Alon Ofir \u2013 Tally-Ho Tompson; Yaron Brovinsky \u2013 Clement Howell; Ron Biterman \u2013 Clement Howell; Shiri Golan \u2013 Karen Roberts; Amir Kriaf \u2013 Lloyd Roberts; Ora Meirson \u2013 Lyla; Adar Sidlik \u2013 Claudia Caswell; Lior Basson \u2013 Fibby, waiter; Idan Avisar \u2013 Harvey, stage manager; Koby Adert \u2013 George, stage hand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  The Beer Sheva Theatre production of All About Eve, directed by Aya Kaplan, is a fun excursion to a realm where divas are divas, theatre is glamorous, and evil wears a sweet pink dress. Margo Crane (Rama Messinger) is a famous actress, \u201ca dream when she is not a nightmare\u201d appearing in one hit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-theater"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13435\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}