Here, There and Everywhere

de Shimon Levy

"Survival" is a leitmotif in Canadian and Israeli experience: for one it is linked with climate and nature, for the other the association is historical and awesome; for one space runs away, for the other space threatens ghettoization. Immigrants in both countries were faced with re-shaping their given spaces and re-crystallizing their personal and national identity in a new environment. Both theatre traditions are highly influenced by Russian, American, Scandinavian and German traditions, bringing with them authentic aspirations to meet at cross-roads between old and new. The focus of Here, There and Everywhere is on stage design and dramatic space, using the notion of "Offstage"characterized as a universal, highly creative and medium-oriented ambience - to offer a link between two intensive but geographically and culturally far apart theatre traditions, which nevertheless exhibit remarkably close techniques and theatrical content. Canadian and Israeli theatre traditions serve not only as stage-places, representing identity quests, but are sophisticated models for the potential gap between universal messages and local, regional and specific issues, many of which are likely to be misunderstood outside the country. The explanation of dramatic space in terms of Canadian and Israeli drama will enable the reader to identify characteristics in other comparative settings.