In a tragifarce that resonates as much today as it did when it was written fifty years ago, three friends weigh up a life unlived versus risk taking. Yohanan, Bella and Shmuel have average-sized dreams. They want sex, money and love. But is playing it safe really the best way to go about turning them into a reality? This fast-paced tragifarce recalibrates a 1970s play by celebrated Israeli playwright Hanoch Levin for a 2020s audience. Created by Gamayun Theatre, the comedy is devised by an international creative ensemble fully invested in cross-cultural dialogue and the sharing of different perspectives.
An intelligent comedy filled with songs and condoms, the play gains extra meaning when placed in the context of a time when exposure to risk is on many people’s minds. At the heart of this comic piece of theatre is a gentle reminder about the tragedy of a life unlived. Risk, The Rubber Merchants reminds the audience, is all around us. But when you become overly aware of it and start hiding away from the world, that caution comes at a price. Feel the freedom and take a punt on what could be, and you might start to live a little.
Directed by Asya Sosis, The Rubber Merchants revisits the tradition of absurdism in 20th century Israeli literature, combining it with Ukrainian and British theatrical practices. It draws on Gamayun Theatre’s international ethos and Sosis’ own interest in buffoonery and farcical comedy. Sosis’s previous productions include Cockroaches, which played at the Camden Fridge in 2016 and the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017, and Dragon which premiered at the Cockpit Theatre in 2019. She also directed Arthur Miller’s The Crucible in Kyiv, Ukraine, with a staging that has now been running for two years.
Asya Sosis said, "I think the most interesting thing about working with people from different cultures is discovering the things that we all have in common, that unite us, even if we relate to them in slightly different ways"
Running Time: 2.5 hours (inc interval)
Suitable for ages 16+ (contains sexual references)
Old Red Lion Theatre, 418 St John Street, London EC1V 4NJ
11-29 January (Tuesdays to Saturdays)
7.30pm | Saturday matinees 2pm