February 9, 2006
Spectator - A Night at the Hebraic Opera
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Opera fans don't mind watching theater unfold in a foreign language. So perhaps Molière fans will enjoy seeing his work performed in Hebrew.
That's one of the hopes of Ori Dinur, director of "The Imaginary Invalid," Molière's 17th century comedy about a hypochondriac and his machinations, playing in Hebrew at the University of Judaism on Feb. 16.
"If you know Hebrew a little bit or you just love theater and you want to enjoy something different, it's enough to have synopsis in your hand," said Dinur, 40. The Israeli writer-director-teacher adapted Natan Alterman's complex translation into a simpler Hebrew play so that even more basic Hebrew speakers can understand it.
The cast is comprised of 11 Jewish actors of different backgrounds, including Iran, Yemen, Russia, Poland, Morocco, Gibraltar and the United States. All but one of the actors -- Jordan Werner -- are Israeli. The 31-year-old Floridian, just a year in Los Angeles, can read Hebrew from his Jewish day school upbringing but barely understands it. For his part, as the lover Cleante, Werner memorized all his lines with coaching from the rest of the cast; he still betrays an American accent thick on the "rrrs."
"As an actor, I really believe you get the feeling from a connection with someone. And I have to look into their eyes and feel what they're saying so it's really a lesson to me, how to react to only what they feel," Werner said.
"The Imaginary Invalid" is Dinur's first project for her new organization, The Jewish-Hebrew Stage. Together with Yoram Najum The Jewish-Hebrew Stage plans to bring Hebrew and Israeli theater to Los Angeles, as well as teach Hebrew through drama.
"I notice there is awkwardness between Israelis and the American Jewish community here, a little alienation," said Dinur, who has been living in the Valley for the last five years. "I'd very much like to create an atmosphere of creation that has to do with Israelis and Jewish Americans. We share so many things, and we can learn so much from people who lived here for generations -- and they can learn so much from us, too."
"The Imaginary Invalid" plays Feb. 16, at 8:30 p.m., at the University of Judaism, 15600 Mullholland Drive, Bel Air. For tickets, call (818) 763-7379.
