About Us
Jaffa Theatre – A Stage for Arab Hebrew Culture
The award winning Jaffa Theatre was founded in 1998 in a multi-arched building in Old Jaffa overlooking the sea. The theatre creates a unique theatrical language making use of the challenging space with the rich human fabric that exists in Jaffa.
Jaffa Theatre is a unique institution in the Israeli theatre world in terms of social involvement and in its style.
The theatre holds 3 major annual festivals: The Jaffa Children’s Festival, Theatroneto and The Festival of Arab Culture
The theatre continues to focus on Middle Eastern culture staging a new musical cabaret on the life of the famous Egyptian singer Farid El Atrash
Supporters for the Theatre: The Arab Hebrew Theatre is a non-profit organization that succeeds to create unique theatre despite economic drawbacks. To our delight private and public bodies believe in the theatre’s work and see themselves as partners showing their support by cash contributions or by administrative or marketing support for which we are very thankful.
Involvement in the Community: Jaffa Theatre considers community involvement is a matter of top priority. Support of performances in the peripheries is an opportunity for youth to experience culture. Jaffa Theatre delivers a social or political message through theatre within Arab and Jewish communities. It initiates theatre days and performances with social messages to diversified populations and communities in the Arab and Jewish communities throughout the country followed by discussions with audiences to create a dialogue in schools and community centers hosting the theatre.
Support co-existence: In Jaffa Theatre the phrase “multicultural” is not just a figure of speech but a fact and an ideology. The cultural involvement is realized by partnering with the local community, Jewish and Arab, veterans and new citizens, to accept the other exposing theater to communities that scarcely see theatre in halls around the country. Jaffa Theatre employs art to promote social change between Arabs and Jews. Jaffa Theatre is a unique organization that serves as a model for creative collaboration between Arabs and Jews. The Theatre deals with difficult issues in collaboration with Arab and Jewish artists a rarity in mainstream theatres in Israel.
Support of new Productions: Jaffa Theatre produces innovative and groundbreaking theatre on political and social subjects focusing on east Mediterranean cultures. Dr. Naftali Shem-Tov from the Literature, Arts and Linguistics department at the Open University says on the subjects the theatre deals with “the contents are unsettling innovative and exceptional.”
“Jaffa Theatre – A Stage for Arab Hebrew Culture is an institution that insists on going its own unique way… finding materials that promote sensitive reflection and not militancy…..the captivating air of innocence is the key to the special charm of this small theatre in Jaffa, where the surrounding cruel reality is set aside for a moment and is replaced by a kind of gentle dream of reconciled and vibrant coexistence.”
-Shai Bar Yaacov, Theatre critic, Yediot Aharonot
“The only sane Island in the Israeli theatre, where a deep dialogue takes place between two cultures: Jewish and Arabic. This is not a hypocritical attempt to prove co-existence, but a real intention to give an equal stage to both cultures”
-Ofira Henig, leading theatre director
