The Child Dreams
A play in four parts
A child. The essence of our lives. The pith.
Asleep, eh? Worlds collapsing around him and he is submerged, enfolded in the bubble of
his dreams, breathing steadily, as though with his breath he bestows a certain order and
meaning upon the chaos of our lives.
Look, he breathes with such serenity he has no knowledge of my existence.
The wonder of sleep.
Hey, children, how is it that you sleep like that,
as if the world were a place for sleep?
After all, if we think things through,
you should be cowering, crawling on all fours,
howling with fear and beating your fists
on the walls –
that is how a wise man must live!
Translated by: Jessica Cohen and Evan Fallenberg
Premiere:
1993
Directed by:
Hanoch Levin
Theatre:
Habima Theatre
Number of characters: 40
Costume and stage design: Roni Toren
Original music: Foldi Shatzman
Lighting: Ben Zion Munitz
Participants: - The Father - Dudu Ben Ze'ev; The Mother - Geta Munte ; The Child - Dina Blei ; Bleeding man - Halifa Natur; Spectator startled by death - Ilan Hazan; Soldiers - Asher Rinsky, Dubrobov Melnik, Avital Livni, Yehonatan Enosh; Commander - Haim Hova; Woman born for love - Tali Atsmon, Carmit Israel; Whimpering woman - Amira Polen; Hunched soldier - Imanuel Hanun; Optimistic neighbor - Lillian Barretto; Skipper - Yossef Shiloah; Sailors - Yoram Meged, Melnik Dubrobov; Passengers - Eliezer Apelboim, Debbie Giovanni, Noa Goldenberg, Yasmin Gera, Tkhia Danon, Shmuel Wolf, Yonat Matan, Emuna Tzvi, Shimon Mimran; Those who remain on shore - Florence Bloch, Michael Koresh, Yael Amitai; Man jealous of the living - Michael Koresh; Logical man - Yael Amitai; Comforting passenger - Tkhia Danon; Impassioned passenger - Shimon Mimran; Disappointed passenger - Eliezer Apelboim; Wise sailor - Yoram Meged; Port guard - Assi Hanegbi; Lame boy - Ora Meirson; Immigration official - Alex Cohen; Toothless ridiculer - Florence Bloch; Trusting passenger - Eliezer Apelboim; Fearful passenger - Tkhia Danon; Island governor - Sassi Sa'ad; Governor's wife - Livia Hakhmon; Governor's entourage - Yehonatan Enosh, Asher Rinsky; Loafer - Assi Hanegbi; Dead children - Lillian Barto, Debbie Giovanni, Noa Goldenberg, Yasmin Gera, Yonat Matan, Amira Polen, Emuna Tzvi, Michal Rubin, Shmuel Wolf, Yael Amitai;
Soprano singers: Emma Zaslevsky, Shosh Lagil, Shimrit Carmi
Alto singers: Dafna Ben David, Hanni Shapira
Correpetitor/piano - Haim Grinspan
Synthesizer: Mickey Naronsky
Choreography: the participants
Additional productions
The New Israeli Opera (2010) / Directed by Omri Nitzan, original music by Gil Shohat
The Cameri Theatre (2018) / Directed by Omri Nitzan. Participants: Shlomi Avraham, Oshrat Ingestadt, Ruth Asarsai, Hadar Baruch, Ron Glick, Nimrod Dagan, Ben Yossipovitsh, Raviv Madar, Roni Merhavi, Neil Mishan, Norman Issa, Assaf Perry, Ziv Clair, Alex Croll, Shahar Raz, Ola Shor Selekter, Na'ama Shitrit, Eran Sarel.
Costume and stage design: Polina Adamov
Original music: Yossef Brandeshvily
Light: Keren Garnak
Choreography: Miri Lazar
Productions abroad
Strasbourg, France 2007
This work was translated to: English, Polish, French
French éditions Théâtrales, 2001
English The Stanford University Press, 2003
Polish Agencja Dramatu I Teatru "ADIT", 2009