Ohel Theatre (Hebrew:תיאטרון אֹהל,Teat'ron 'Ohel) was a Hebrew-language theatre company, active between 1925–1969 inMandate Palestine andIsrael .
Ohel (Hebrew for "tent"), originally known as theWorkers' Theatre of Palestine, was established in 1925 as a socialist theatre: members of the company combined acting with farming and industrial labour. The theatre, founded byMoshe Halevy, who had been a founding member ofHabimah in Moscow,[1] was organised as a collective.[2]
The theatre's first production was aHebrew adaptation of stories by theYiddish writerI. L. Peretz.Peretz's Parties depicted the decadence of life in theDiaspora, compared to new Jewish life in theLand of Israel.[2] In 1926 it hosted theModern Artists' exhibition, the first show of modern art in mandatory Palestine. In 1927, it stagedDayagim ("Fishermen"), a socialist play about the exploitation of fishermen by entrepreneurs.[3]
Set designers who worked with the company in its early years were European-trained painters and architects, among them architectAryeh Elhanani, expressionist painterIsrael Paldi andMenachem Shemi,Yitzhak Frenkel a painter of theParis school, as well as other important artists such asReuven Rubin andArie Aroch.[4]
On a successful European tour in 1934, Ohel staged biblical and national plays. When the company returned to Palestine, it producedThe Good Soldier Schweik (1935), one of its most successful offerings. In 1961, Ohel staged a comedy byEphraim Kishon,Ha-Ketubbah ("The Marriage Contract"), which played for three seasons.[3]
Until 1958, Ohel was the official theatre of theHistadrut, the General Labor Federation.[5]
In 1964, under a new artistic director, Canadian-born Peter Frye, the company performedAmmekha byScholem Aleichem, plays byIonesco,Brecht, and young British playwrights. The theatre closed in 1969.[3]
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