What do you do when you're getting up in years and want to make the most of your creativity? Media personality Moti Kirschenbaum, for one, is directing a play.
Not just any play; the television host will be able to use his experience on Channel 10's London & Kirschenbaum public affairs program.
The play takes place in an underground bunker where the prime minister, defense minister and head of the Shin Bet security service try to manage a war. It's called "Sarei Hamilhama" ("Ministers of War" ), by the comedian Shai Goldstein. Kirschenbaum has begun rehearsals at the Habima Theater.
In 2009, Kirschenbaum, an Israel Prize laureate, directed "Nifga'ei Harada" ("Shell-shocked" ), which he wrote with B. Michael and Efraim Sidon. This collaboration ended with a legal suit over unpaid royalties. In the end, the Tel Aviv District Court ordered Habima to pay the writers what they were entitled to and to return the rights.
"The previous effort was unsuccessful, but I'm already 72 and don't have a lot of time left to squabble," Kirschenbaum says. "And I want to devote the years I have left to creating; to use them in the best possible way."
Oh yes, and he likes the play. "It's a funny, satirical piece," Kirschenbaum says. "I like directing a current-events satire; I'm not sure they would ask me to direct 'Hamlet.' I told my partners from 'Nifga'ei Harada' and I think they understand my age crisis."
Eli Yatzpan will play the prime minister, Yuval Segal will play the defense minister and Yigal Sadeh will play the Shin Bet chief. Ruby Porat Shoval will play a journalist covering the war.
This is the first play by Goldstein, who has experience in television and his daily radio show with Dror Rafael. He thought up the idea for the play and pitched it to Habima. "Until now, I wrote short skits for television, so this is a completely different world," he says.
According to Goldstein, "the play is not based on immediate events but addresses something that could happen today, tomorrow or in 10 years. Or it could have happened 10 years ago. In the play, I focus on our history and the struggles over the years, unconnected to whether the right or left is in power."
