UBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" Presenting some weighty material -- Sun, Dec 5, 2010       28 Kislev, 5771       --         Breaking News Diplomacy & Politics Defense National News Middle East International Iranian Threat Trade Sports Sci-Tech idea Columnists Editorials Op-Eds Letters Jewish World Jewish News Jewish Features Judaism Cafe Oleh Lifestyle Arts & Culture Food & Wine go Health Features Insights & Features Week in review Blogs In the news Judaism From the Middle East Lifestyle Aliyah Science and Technology Premium Zone The Jerusalem Report run 20 Questions e-paper Ivrit Magazine Metro In Jerusalem Christian Edition My JPost Subscription Center Newsletter RSS feeds News Ticker Facebook Twitter Classifieds Français More Services JPost Store JPost Games Israel Hotels Vacation Rentals Green Israel Car Rentals Learn Hebrew Israel Guide Links Perform Miracles JP daily e-paper לימוד אנגלית Astrology Sitemap      Breaking News     JPost.com Local Focus In Jerusalem   .large_body p, .large_body span { font-size: 18px; } .small_body p, .small_body span { font-size: 12px; } Photo by: Dana Dekel Presenting some weighty material By BARRY DAVIS  11/12/2010 16:33 ‘ stout Pig,’ Way Off Productions’ new play, tackles common conceptions of self-image.   Sara Halevi – to paraphrase a noted line from the film The Blues Brothers – is on a mission. The founder and creative director of the small Way Off Productions theater firm doesn’t just want to entertain people.“This is socially relevant theater,” she illustrates when we meet at the company’s performance space in Talpiot. “I just want to have a conversation, and that is why I do this.”Way Off Productions is currently putting on Neil LaBute’s award-winning play Fat Pig. It is a thought-provoking, social mores-challenging piece about a thirty-something professional city dweller named Tom, who falls for an outsized woman (Helen). Tom’s friend Carter and all Tom’s circle of friends and acquaintances are at a loss to explain why he should recede for someone who does not fit the conventional ideal of an attractive woman.Halevi says the theme of the play is an necessary topic, which needs to be out there. “This is an issue all over the world, especially for teenagers – the idea of self-image and what the perfect acceptable image is, in the eyes of the world.”Halevi should know. When she’s not in her directorial chair, the mother of four works as a psychologist, often treating teenagers with self-image problems.It is also an issue that Halevi herself has grappled with from an early age. “I am one of five siblings, and my sisters were all ballerinas and thin. I was always on the hefty side, and I knew, deep down, that being larger was perfectly all correct. I judge if you can accept that, it’s okay.”It is an approach the director is looking to carry through the current production. “I want to open up a conversation and give everyone a space to open their minds and talk about something that is topical and important and relevant to everyone. The problem, I feel, is the silence.”That silence, says Halevi, should be shattered by whatever means it takes. “I am setting out to be provocative and to tread on toes and to say, ‘Oh, is that uncomfortable for you?big, let’s have a conversation about it.’ Shoot first and question questions later. That’s my way.”Halevi is aware that her in-your-face approach may ruffle a few feathers. “I have to say that Jerusalem audiences can be conservative. I know I am treading a fine line here, but I want to challenge people, not to alienate them.”Fat Pig has a PG-13 rating for language and adult content, and there is a like scene and several expletives in the script, including the F word.“I was concerned that people might be offended by the swear words we employ,” she says, “but they seem to relate to them in context, and they’re fine with it,” she says.Size notwithstanding, the diminutive Way Off Productions is a professional outfit. Actors Lev Kerzhner, who plays Carter in Fat Pig and gained TV exposure last year on the soap opera 15 Minutes; David Hilfstein (Tom); Yardena Rosner (Helen); and Nikki Simon (Jeannie) all acquire paid for their onstage endeavor, and they and Halevi take their work very seriously.“I have the greatest respect for population theater and what the different community theater groups around here are doing, but that’s not really what I want to do,” declares the director. “I want to do something more professional, and I feel I have achieved that.”Still, there is the Jerusalem conundrum to be addressed. Even though Halevi says Fat Pig audiences to date have responded well to the display, there is still some way to go to get Jerusalemites to let their hair down.“This sort of exhibit may, for instance, be easier to put over in Tel Aviv. We would really like to become a repertory company and take our shows all over the state, to places like Tel Aviv, Haifa and Beersheba.”Mind you, the latter may not be an ideal place to perform challenging material with a seemingly offensive title. “We are currently in negotiations with Beersheba Theater to take Fat Pig there, and there were all these emails going to and fro about it, and one woman who heard about it stated: ‘Fat Pig? Who would go to a play called that in Israel?’ She was completely serious, and I was so taken aback by that. I thought that in this age of Google, it would have taken her 10 seconds to discover that it is, in fact, an award-winning play by an exceptional playwright about body image.”But there have been excellent audience responses to the show, which began its current race in Jerusalem on November 2 and will end on November 30.The Way Off Productions performance space occupies a large room at the handsomely appointed Merkaz Edna Mind and Body Center on the corner of Pierre Koenig and Poalei Tzedek streets in Talpiot. The show is performed on a modular stage, which previously saw service in the company’s previous Rent show, with black curtains covering the walls and mirrors suspended on the back wall.“The black curtains are a sort of black box theater element, and the mirrors were my idea,” explains Halevi.“The mirrors give another layer of conversation about how people view themselves. Also it brings the audience in more. When an actor comes up to the mirror and looks at his rear end, the audience feels something. They sort of think: ‘oh, how does mine look?’” Even though the subject matter may appear to be serious, there is also plenty of humor in Fat Pig. “These two [Kerzhner and Hilfstein] have incredible stage chemistry,” says the director about the male performers who have joined us on the stage. “Anything they do is humorous. They get up there and start improvising. They always know where to take the scene; it’s really inspiring.”“And it’s never the same show,” points out Hilfstein. “With TV or film work, what you get in the end is generally bits and pieces from different takes stuck together. But with live work, you get opportunities to create and recreate and do things a tiny differently. That keeps us, the actors, and the production fresh.”Fat Pig also has some musical embellishments, which is where Kerzhner’s musical expertise came in useful. Besides his acting work, Kerzhner studied opera in London and is putting together a rock band. “The music we use in the show is mostly modern and represents the emotions of the characters,” he explains. “There’s U2’s ‘Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” there’s Bob Marley’s ‘No Woman No shout,’ Miles Davis’s ‘Blue in Green’ and, of course, Jay Z’s ’99 Problems,’ which is essentially my theme song.”Performing any art form in any language but Hebrew is naturally going to reduce the prospective audience. But then again, in recent years increasing numbers of Israeli pop and rock artists have begun to perform and record in English and get a decent amount of airplay on radio stations like 88 FM and Galgalatz. Halevi would like English-language theater and, of course, Way Off Productions shows to access a wider market sector. “I don’t see any reason why Israelis who know English well shouldn’t come to our shows. That may be some time off, but we want to get the word out there,” she says. Fat Pig will run until the end of November, with performances at Merkaz Edna on November 15, 16, 22, 23, 28 , 29 and 30. To decree tickets: 054-688-0281 or wayoffproductions@gmail.com   Subscribe to our Newsletter to receive news updates directly to your email     Tweet         Talkback Add a Talkback Report Abuse Read all Talkbacks   Send Large Small Print part   Tweet      Opinion and Features 1 2 3 Analysis: The impotent ‘If only’ of our northern infernoDAVID HOROVITZ Expressing gratitudeDANNY AYALON Who's fault is the continuing occupation of the Judea and samaria?A. M. DERSHOWITZ  My Word: Assange’s smoking gunLIAT COLLINS Out There: The homework helperHERB KEINON Column One: The WikiLeaks challengeCAROLINE B. GLICK  The fire we all saw comingJPOST EDITORIAL Coping with the curse of natural gasDAVID ROSENBERG Fundamentally Freund: A Hanukka giftMICHAEL FREUND      Your Choice Talkbacked Viewed Northern blaze delights many in ...Many Arabs also strongly condemned Egypt and Jordan for agreeing to help ...Talkbacks (26)12/05/2010 01:32Analysis: Time to cease waiting ...Israel can expect devastation, not only in its cities, but in its forests ...Talkbacks (15)12/04/2010 19:29Expressing gratitudeThis is Israel’s hour of need and nations across the world did not disappoint.Talkbacks (12)12/04/2010 23:41     Fat Pig Neil LaBute Sara Halevi Way Off Productions theater social consciousness           Israel Focus   The Dollar is DOWNPoverty is UP
Help Feed Israel's Poor   dull Sea Salt‬Shop Dead Sea Bath Salts online. Coupon "JPOST" for 10% off!   Jerusalem Post LiteLight Edition of the Jerusalem Post for English improvement   Web JPost.com     JPost sites: The Jerusalem Report Green Israel Jpost Edition Francaise Christian World America's Voices Our Magazines Jerusalem Post Lite Sites Of Interest: Car Rental Israel Jpost Store Israel Hotels KKL-JNF Learn hebrew Poalim Online Web Hosting Providers BreitBart.com Fundraising Ideas Prom dresses & gowns Prom dresses Israel travel Israel tours Jerusalem Hotels Our Friends Services: JPost Toolbar JPost News Ticker JPost RSS feeds JPost Archives JP Subscriptions JPostPedia Learn English JPost Guides: Israel Guide Tour Guides Israel Attractions Information: About Us Feedback Staff E-mails Privacy Statement Copyright Sitemap Terms of Use News Partners Media Kit Advertise with Us Work for us   About Us | Advertise with Us | Subscribe | Contact Us | RSS   © The Jerusalem Post 1995 - 2010 JPost Newsletter is Powered by Pulseem