The Rubber Merchants is an tragifarce with songs and condoms about the dangers of always staying safe. Yohanan, Bella, and Shmuel dream of all the usual things: sex, money, and love; but as they set out to get them, they discover that in order to make their dreams come true, they must inevitably take risks.

Written by a celebrated Israeli playwright in 1970s, this story is finding new relevance in the modern post-lockdown world, where people, surrounded by comforts of on-demand streaming, online deliveries and dating apps, no longer feel comfortable with taking everyday life risks of the outside world.

Devised and performed by an international creative ensemble, cross-cultural bridge-building is at the heart of this project. The Rubber Merchants unites in it the absurdist comedy of Israeli literature of 20th century, Ukrainian theatre tradition and British styles of performance. This is an eternal theme of tragedy of the life unlived, especially relevant and controversial in the current climate of post-lockdown confusion around and reluctance to risk exposure.