Subscribe to Print Edition | Tue., July 08, 2008 Tamuz 5, 5768 | | Israel Time: 11:50 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Peres Conference Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Take a bow By Haim Handwerker Tags: Meital Dohan NEW YORK - Meital Dohan has succeeded in an arena in which many Israeli actors have failed. The 31-year old actress is starring in the provocative off-Broadway play "Stitching" at the Wild Project, a theater in New York's East Village. The play, written by Anthony Neilson, was first mounted at the Edinburgh Festival in 2002, and was later a hit in London. The play is part of the In-Yer-Face Theater movement, which began in Britain in the 1990s. In-Yer-Face artists believe one must rock audiences to move them. The play, produced by Adamanto Productions and Liebman Entertainment, opened on June 25 and will run until July 19. It tells the story of Stu (Gian Murray Gianino) and Abby (Meital Dohan), a young couple who are madly in love but find it hard to get along - their relations are rife with daily violence. When it becomes clear Abby is pregnant, the couple deliberates their decision before agreeing to have the baby. Their connection becomes even more entangled in the wake of this development. Advertisement They are embroiled in a disaster, and the play ends with the female lead stitching up her genitals. The borders of sexual fantasy are traversed time and again, but there is no nudity in the play. New York Times reviewer Neil Genzlinger noted that Dohan is "extremely gorgeous," but objected to the playwright's attempts to go for "shock value," when "patrons of the theaters in this part of town have seen it all before." Nevertheless, Sam Thielman of Variety wrote that "even though the play eventually crashes and burns, it's never boring." In an interview, Dohan said that the play addresses the transience of contemporary love and relationships. "The value of love has been eroded and it is hard to maintain it," she explains. "Everything is so temporary. In the past, if you dated or married someone, it was forever. Now, people separate or divorce without any problem. I want a relationship but, right now, I don't even have a boyfriend. In the play, I grappled with painful situations that many couples now experience. So it is important to me that people view it as more than just provocation." The accent barrier The play made physical and emotional demands on Dohan. "After rehearsals and trying to get into the characters, I felt lonely," she says. "I often felt the pain of physical symptoms in my body." In the past, Israeli actors have complained that their accents blocked them from getting parts in American plays. But in this case, Dohan created that opportunity for herself. "I read the play and was turned on by it. I contacted the playwright, Neilson, in London, and we met. "I offered the idea to the director, Timothy Haskell, whom I had wanted to do a project with for a long time. And that's how it came about." Dohan made a cameo appearance in "The Sopranos," as one of the strippers in Tony Soprano's club. She played a more prominent role in "Weeds," where she appeared as a rabbinical school admissions officer with sado-masochistic proclivities. But this actress never rests. She took part in two movies in which filming recently ended, Amos Kolleks's "L.L." and Keren Atzmon's "Failing Better Now," and she is involved in another project which she prefers not to speak about at length. "I have been in New York for four and a half years, but have always straddled the line. I miss Israel. "I have a hard time being away for more than three months. I filmed a pilot for an Israeli series. If I am accepted, I will spend more time in Israel," she says. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Prisoner exchange Israel signs swap deal, begins exhuming bodies of Hezbollah guerillas. Provocative questions Gaydamak tells TAU student to 'shut up and go to hell' over Angola question.

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