The Pretender to the Throne: Tmuna Theater presents a historical satire on the near future

Tmuna Theater presents "The Pretender to the Throne," a historical satire on the near future that exposes the distortions of the regime and the fragile fate of the citizen—both then under Stalin's dictatorial rule and today in the contemporary Israeli reality. The play was written, adapted, and directed by Yarden Gilboa, inspired by the book "The Pretender to the Throne" by Vladimir Voinovich.

Chonkin, a Red Army soldier during World War II, is imprisoned through no fault of his own. His beloved, fighting for his release, reveals a long chain of absurd misunderstandings that confront everyone around them with the terrible reality in which they live. These are days of war, when a corrupt and unworthy regime holds the reins.

Days of war, days when reality is losing its grip on logic, days when extreme trends are strengthening, days of a regime coup, days when the judiciary becomes a tool in the hands of the government, days when the lives of citizens hang by a thin thread dependent on the ruler's whims—a ruler leading his people to the edge of the abyss.

These are the days described in the book "The Pretender to the Throne" written by Vladimir Voinovich, regarding Stalin's dictatorial rule during World War II.

When Yarden began the work of adaptation and writing based on the book, our reality here in the Land of Israel jumped, pushed, and kicked its way into the creation. The words describing "back then" in Russia and the words of the contemporary Israeli reality (texts by Einav Zangauker, Matan Zangauker, Ayal Eshel, Saul Tchernichovsky, Mahmoud Darwish, and Eitan Haber), blended together like a sad glove on a painful hand.

Sometimes you will feel the connections; sometimes you might not even notice them.

Yarden believes that in these sick days, our medicine lies in action—in the ability to observe and critique the reality outside by allowing it to manifest in a new form on the stage. Perhaps it will make us laugh, perhaps it will make us sad, perhaps it will hurt us, perhaps it will anger us, or perhaps not. But what is certain is that the more deeply we observe it, the more we can change it.

The play was first staged at the "Ehad Ha'am" Theater in the Faculty of Arts of Kibbutzim College, under the artistic direction of Yehezkel Lazarov.

Monday, 14.09.26 at 19:00 – Tmuna Theater

Monday, 28.09.26 at 20:00 – Tmuna Theater

Direction, Adaptation, and Writing: Yarden Gilboa // Dramaturgical Consultation: Avi Gibson Bar-El and Itay Doron // Musical Direction: Jan Kogan // Movement Design: Tal Kon // Stage Combat: Guy Baumeker // Photography: Yeshayahu Feinberg // Set and Props Design: Inbal Spiegelman and Ido Barzilay // Lighting Design: Rotem Elroy | Costume Design: Sivan Kagan // Assistant Directors and Production: On Dahan, Omer Levy, Dasha Arusov, Dan Thierry Michaud, Omer Lev // Technical Staff: Maya Morgenstern and Mori Gadasi // Accordionist: Yanush Horowitz // Actors: Eyal Aspir, Itamar Epstein, Dasha Arusov, On Dahan, Omer Lev, Omer Levy, Dan Michaud, Ron Rubichek, Gili Ran.

Tmuna Theater

8 Soncino St., Tel Aviv

03-5611211

www.tmu-na.org.il

(Photo: Yeshayahu Feinberg)