BAM

Fis

herBrooklyn Academy of Music

Alan H. Fishman, Chairman of the Board

William I. Campbell, Vice Chairman of the Board

Adam E. Max, Vice Chairman of the Board

Karen Brooks Hopkins, President

Joseph V. Melillo, Executive Producer

Season Sponsor

Time Warner Inc. is the BAM 2014

Next Wave Festival Sponsor

Leadership support provided by

Nash Family Foundation

Support provided by

The Jim Henson Foundation

and Cheryl Henson

Major support for theater at BAM provided by

The Francena T. Harrison

Foundation Trust

Stephanie & Timothy Ingrassia

Donald R. Mullen Jr.

The Morris and Alma Schapiro Fund

The SHS Foundation

The Shubert Foundation, Inc.

DATES: Oct 28—Nov 1 at 7:30pm LOCATION: BAM Fisher (Fishman Space)

RUN TIME: 1hr 20min (no intermission)

#SALTOFTHEEARTH

Salt of the Earth Puppet Cinema/ HaZira Performance Art Arena Zvi Sahar

DirectorZVI SAHAR

Dramaturg ODED LITTMAN

Design & Cinematography AYA ZAIGER

Music GAI SHERF & RONA KENAN

Lighting designer ADI SHIMRONY

Performer-CollaboratorsZVI SAHAR, AYA ZAIGER, MICHAL VAKNIN, YUVAL FINGERMAN, SHAI EGOZI & GAI SHERF

Artistic Director of HaZira Performance Art ArenaGUY BIRAN

US Producer, International Company Manager, PuppetCinemaLESLIE STRONGWATER

—Based on the novel The Road to Ein Harod by Amos Kenan

Support for Salt of the Earth provided by Cheryl Henson & The Jim Henson Foundation, Puppet Blok (at Dixon Place), Israel’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Consulate General of Israel in NY, and LABA, a laboratory for Jewish culture at the 14th Street Y—a program of the Educational Alliance.

Salt ofthe Earth

Photo: Yair Meyuhas

Who’s Who

ZVI SAHARDirector, Performer, Adaptation

Zvi Sahar is an actor, director, and puppeteer based in Tel Aviv. Sahar holds a degree in acting from the SELA performing school in Tel-Aviv and a BA (summa cum laude) in theater studies from Haifa University. As an actor, Sa-har has worked with several prominent theater groups in Israel including Itim Ensemble with director Rina Yerush-almi, an Israel Prize for Arts recipient at the Cameri Theater of Tel Aviv and the Be’er Sheva Theater company. With his colleague, Oded Littman, Sahar co-directed and starred in the critically-ac-claimed Richard III at Tmu-na Theater and Oedipus Rex at Hasimta Theater. Sahar’s work has been supported by The Jim Henson Foundation (2013 project grant for Salt of the Earth), the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, the Yehoshua Rabinovich Foundation, the Consulate Generals of Israel in NY, DC, LA, and others. Over the past few years, Sahar has explored puppetry and established his Israeli/American company PuppetCinema, workshop-ping its first show Planet Egg at the Puppet Lab at St. Ann’s Warehouse. The show was later presented in full at the International Puppet Theater & Film Festival in Israel, Dixon Place’s Puppet BloK, HERE Arts Center, Rockefeller University, Hawaii Fringe Festival, and the DC Capital Fringe where it was a

Washington Post editors’ pick. Planet Egg continues to tour internationally and has been featured in the Drak & Chrudim Theater Festivals (Czech Re-public), Asteroiden Festival (Copenha-gen), and will travel to the Hong Kong Arts Festival in March 2015.

ODED LITTMANDramaturg, Adaptation, Development Crew

Oded Littman is a theater director, dra-maturg, and teacher living and working in Bern, Switzerland. Originally from Israel, he graduated in 2006 with a BA in directing from Tel-Aviv’s Kibbutzim College. He has directed several theater pieces in Tel Aviv’s experimental scene focusing on modern interpretations of classical texts. In 2010, he moved to Switzerland to take up master stud-ies in theater and performance at the HKB (Die Hochschule der Künste), Bern, and began work as a dramaturg, director, and member of the theater collective Milch/Gänse.

AYA ZAIGERCollaborator, Cinematographer, Scenic Designer, Development Crew

Aya Zaiger specializes in developing visual concepts, art direction, and scenic and costume design in film and television. She has worked with several leading theaters and companies in Israel including Kamery, Tmu-na, Be’er-Sheva, and Hasimta. Some of her work includes Salt and Water, the award-winning show at the Aco Festival, Sigalit the Ticher, Rikki’s

Kinder Garden, Tonight Oedipus, and the film, The Cutoff Man, named one of 2012’s five best movies by Italian Film magazine.

MICHAL VAKNINCollaborator, Performer, Development Crew

Michal Vaknin is a Jerusalem-born co-founder and member of PuppetCin-ema. She is a director, actress, and puppeteer with a BA in theater from Haifa University. Performance and directing credits include: I Think This Is the Closest to How the Footage Looked (Cannes, San Sebastián, Sundance, Hot Docs Canada); He Who Says Yes / He Who Says No (Talui Bamakom Site Specific Festival, Tel Aviv); The House by the Lake (Charleville, Berlin, Silk-eborg International Puppet Festivals); The Opposite of Alive (Natural History Museum, Jerusalem; Jerusalem Sea-son of Culture, HaZira Performing Art Arena); and Dum Dum Baby: Puppet Theater for Grown-ups and Naughty Children (International Festival of Puppet Theater, Jerusalem; Richard Schechner & Performance Studies International Conference, Honoring Richard Schechner, Haifa).

YUVAL FINGERMANPerformer, Puppeteer

Yuval Fingerman was born in Haifa. He has performed with various dance ensembles and companies in Israel, notably with Liat Dror and Nir Ben Gal Dance Company, where he danced for six years. He has presented his

own choreography at the Creative Space Festival in Jerusalem and at Intimadance Festival in Tmu-na The-ater, Tel Aviv. Touring nationally and internationally, he has performed as a puppeteer and actor in Eshet by Alit Weber, which received honorable men-tion at the Akko Fringe Festival, and as a dancer in One Dimensional Man and Reside 1.1.

SHAI EGOZIPerformer, Puppeteer

Shai Egozi graduated with distinction from Beit Zvi High School of Perform-ing Arts and was also awarded a schol-arship from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. His performance work includes roles at the Cameri Theatre: Romeo & Juliet (Prince of Verona), From Crystal to Dust (Yosef Goebbels), The Feast (Kim), and Zohar (Amnon Argov); Belt Lessin Theatre: The Real Thing (Brodie), Thrill (Eddie) and As You Like It (Oliver); Library Theater: Closer (Larry), Richard II (Sr. John Bushy), Richard III (Sr. Buckingham), The 24th Day (Tom), Bent (Officer), and Harold & Maude (Dr. Harley). Egozi also participated in the BBC drama The Promise (Peter Kosminsky) and in the films Year Zero and Candies (Yosef Pichhadze).

GAI SHERFSound Performer, Music, Sound Effects

Gai Sherf is a musician and gradu-ate of the School of Visual Theatre in Israel. He also plays in various en-sembles and arranges and writes music

for theater, film, and video. He collects musical instruments from all over the world and plays them non-traditionally. He has created and directed several stage works, among them Schmetter-ling, based on unique musical instru-ments of his own invention. He won an award at the Acre Festival of Alternative Theatre.

GUY BIRANArtistic Director of HaZira Performance Art Arena

Guy Biran has directed more than 20 plays throughout Israel and abroad. He has taught theater at the Visual Theater School (Jerusalem), National School of Drama (New Delhi), and Amsterdamse Theater School specializing in site-specific and documentary theater.

LESLIE STRONGWATERUS Producer, International Company Manager, PuppetCinema

Leslie Strongwater received her BA in theater studies and art history from Hampshire College and her MA from NYU in puppetry and education. She is the founder and curator of Puppet BloK and the recipient of six Jim Henson Foundation Presenter’s Grants for her puppetry series at Dixon Place (NYC), where she served as co-artistic director for over five years. Named Best Curator by Paper magazine, she was also given the BAX10 Arts Management Award from Brooklyn Arts Exchange. She has directed and produced for many

NYC artists, including Mac Wellman (3 2’s: or AFAR, world premiere), OBIE-award-winning Peculiar Works Project (East Village Fragments, world premiere), Sibyl Kempson (The Secret Death of Puppets, world premiere), and Suzan-Lori Parks (365 Days, NY premiere) at the Public Theater. She has worked at The Jim Henson Foundation under Cheryl Henson and is currently a professor of theater and puppetry at Gettysburg College.

ADDITIONAL CREATIVE CREDITS

Puppetry Consultation JESSICA SCOTT

US Director of Photography, PuppetCinema BOAZ FREUND

Production Coordinator, PuppetCinema ERIC BERNINGHAUSEN

Additional Music & Main Theme SongRONA KENAN

Puppetry Design ETI SAHAR, ZVI SAHAR, AYA ZAIGER, ROBIN FROHARDT

Translation (1988)ANSELM HOLLO

Publisher GROVE PRESS

PRODUCTION

Salt of the Earth is produced by Hazira Performance Art Arena and was developed by PuppetCinema through the LABA residency of the 14th Street

Y (2012) and Puppet BloK at Dixon Place (2013). Salt of the Earth re-ceived its world premiere in Jerusalem at HaZira Performance Art Arena in May of 2014.

HAZIRA PERFORMANCE ART ARENA HaZira Performance Art Arena is an ex-ceptional interdisciplinary theater plat-form in the Israeli cultural scene. Being fully responsive to the multilayered reality in Jerusalem, HaZira initiates, produces, and runs new experimental productions of theater, dance, video art, and multimedia. Its mission is to nurture high quality alternative theater, to strengthen and promote original cross-cultural dialogue throughcreative original projects, and to support fresh artists, boldly crossing boundaries and daring to define new stage language. hazira.org.il

HaZira Performance Art Arena StaffGuy Biran: Artistic DirectorSagit Zur: Project ManagerDaniella Shenhav: Production ManagerIdan Stern: Technical Manager Yali Reichert: Marketing Ronit Ben Shushan: Office Manager

LABA is a laboratory for Jewish culture in which classic Jewish texts inspire the creation of new art. Developed by the 14th Street Y (NYC) in 2007, LABA programming includes original theater productions, live events, gallery shows, salons, and performances for children and adults. 14streety.org

Puppet BloK is a six-time recipient of presenters grants from The Jim Henson Foundation. Promoting innovative storytelling and featuring new works of puppetry-in-progress from emerging

and established artists in and around NYC, Puppet BloK was founded in 2006 and is curated by Leslie Strong-water at Dixon Place. dixonplace.org

PUPPETCINEMAPuppetCinema began in 2009 as a theatrical experiment in Israel and is now an internationally touring compa-ny with two shows in rep, Planet Egg, a sci fi epic adventure told in minia-ture, and Salt of the Earth. puppetcinema.com

SPECIAL THANKS

Joe Melillo for taking a chance on us—we are forever in your debt.

Cheryl Henson for believing in the show and introducing us to Joe, and for continued support of the heart, mind, and spirit.

To HaZira & Staff: Thank you for your hard work! Guy Biran—for making this happen and being a sharp, supportive, and 24/7 accessible artistic director. To Sagit Zur, Idan Stern, Yali Reichert, Ronit Ben Shushan, and to our lovely secret D.S. :-)

Our dear friends at the Consulate Gen-eral of Israel in NY , Anat Gilead, and Renée Schreiber, for supporting the show and seeing the potential from the very beginning. israelfm.org/culture

Our special friends at the 14th St Y—Wendy Seligson, Shayna Kreisler, Ronit Muzkatblit—you are our cham-pions. Thanks also to Ruby Nambar, Basmat Hazan, Steven Hazan Arnof, and all the 2012 LABA artists! And

David Winitsky and the JPP. And to LABA for supporting Zvi as artist in residence.

Special thanks to everyone at BAM. Your professionalism and support through this dreamy process have been extraordinary and inspiring.

To the many artists and collaborators who helped develop Salt of the Earth in the US at LABA and Puppet BloK: Tom McDonagh (for your continued support and visits!), Jessica Scott, Erica Livingston, Daniel Burnam, Heather Sparling, Shlomi Mantsur, Robin Frohardt, Joe Silovsky, Ien Denio, Justin Perkins, Ali Skye Bennet, Jesse Garrison, Leslie Strongwater, Adam Ende, Ayuma Poe Saegusa, Gina Bonati, Lindsay Abromaitis-Smith, Kobe Shmueli, Gil Levanon, Ronit Muszkatblit, and Giorah Aharoni. Extra special thanks to Ellie Covan, Katy Einerson, and everyone at Dixon Place for continuing to support puppets so beautifully.

And of course, thanks to Daphna Yizrael, who came home one night with a little blue book and said, “you’ve got to read this!” To Eti & Uri Sahar—Master Puppeteers, and Ayah Yolan—Master Puppet, the littlest puppet baby Vivian Wolf Berningwater, Marcia & Bruce Strongwater—for everything un-der the sun, Yakir Paz, Ati Citron, Yoni Lucas, Inbal Austern, Ariel “English An-gel” Aberg-Riger, and Marge Goldwater. Love & Thanks to “Z” Briggs at The Jim Henson Foundation, Ronit Muzkatblit and Yonatan Israel for their friendship and endless generosity, Yaron Bluevise and USonestop, Eric Jensen, Gettys-burg College Theater Arts Department:

Chris Kauffman, Susan Russell, Eric Berninghausen (on double duty!), Carol Coon, and Leslie Strongwater.

Special Thanks to our EPACC Co-Sponsors: Kim Davidson & Hillel House, Stephen Stern, Jim Udden, and Steve Gimbel.

To St. Ann’s Warehouse and Puppet Lab, for being PuppetCinema’s first greenhouse with special thanks to Tom Lee, Matt Acheson, Krissy Smith, and Susan Feldman. stannswarehouse.org

To our new friends in the puppetry community—Gloria Sun, Katy Einer-son (of Dixon Place), Laine Barton, Jacqueline Lalor, Leila Ghaznavi, Erin Orr, Chris Green for your extraordi-nary generosity and hospitality, and the sweetest sisters—Sneha & Suniti Mehta.

Lindsay Abromaitis-Smith—we dedi-cate this show to you, who inspired Salt of the Earth from the mounds of earth in Epyllion, your brilliant show.

Thanks to Amos Kenan. Born in Tel Aviv in 1927, Kenan fought in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Soon after, he became a peace activist and wrote sa-tirical articles about organized religion and the newly created state of Israel. He was best known for the 1984 novel The Road to Ein Harod, which was heavily criticized at the time for its view of Israel’s future. “If you think this is science fiction,” Kenan told the Associ-ated Press in 1984, “you’re mad. It’s virtually a documentary.” He died in 2009. And to the Kenan Family—Rona Kenan, Shlomzion Kenan, and Nurit Gretz.

Support for Salt of the Earth provided by Cheryl Henson and The Jim Henson Foundation, HaZira Performing Art Arena, Puppet BloK (at Dixon Place), Israel’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Consulate General of Israel in NY, and LABA, a laboratory for Jewish culture at the 14th Street Y—a program of the Educational Alliance—which Pup-petCinema gratefully acknowledges as our fiscal sponsor.

CONTACT US:For Salt of the Earth booking, please email: admin@hazira.org.il

For company info, please contact US producer Leslie Strongwater: Leslie@puppetcinema.com

UPCOMING:Nov 5, 2014: Salt of the Earth, Gettysburg College

Mar 9—16, 2015: Planet Egg, Hong Kong Arts Festival

BAM

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