THE RUBBER MERCHANTS
THE RUBBER MERCHANTS
Performing at Old Red Lion Pub Theatre
Running time: 2.5 hrs (with interval)
16+
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION:
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.
Created 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.
Performers:
Bella Berlow – Hadas K. Kershaw
A French-Israeli professionally trained full time stage and screen actress, based near London.
The Rubber Merchants is one of two productions Hadas is currently working on.
She has great experience on stage and is now developing herself further on screen in her current web-series project.
Shmuel Sproll – Joseph Emms
Training - Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
Theatre Credits - Romeo and Juliet/A Midsummer Night's Dream (Cambridge Shakespeare Festival) The Spanish Tragedy (Lazarus theatre Co) Dragon (Gamayun Theatre)
Film/Television - 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (Channel 4/Zepotron) The Stuart's: A Bloody Reign (UKTV) David and Goliath (US Netflix)
Currently a writer and performer with the comedy troupe 21st Century Cox
Yohanan Tsingerbai – Tom Dayton
Tom is an actor from London. After graduation, he completed a course on Screen Acting at The Actors Centre.
Theatre credits: Taming of the Shrew/ As You Like It (Foot In the Door Theatre) Cockroaches (Gamayun Theatre).
Tom has appeared in many shorts since including 'The Cow Boy', 'cafe talk' and the award-winning 'Lucky Break'. Most recently he portrayed the conflicted character of Rob in 'Sofa Surfer'.
Tom continues to hone his acting skills, preparing for his future feature lead role of Dick in 'Full Bodied'.
Creative and Production team:
Mariia Miasnikova (choreographer) is a contemporary dance practitioner and movement director, working full time in a Ukrainian experimental theatre production company, 14Orlov . She has worked on projects with Gamayun Theatre as a freelance choreographer and movement instructor since 2019. Mariia utilises innovative experimental dance styles, that are developed from each actor’s own natural body language.
Hardy Gru (scenographer) is Latvia born, UK trained and based theatre designer/artist and theatre maker with experience also in directing, opera, site-specific performance and heritage performance. Interested in making theatre that scars and heals at the same time, his designs are bold, highly visual and symbolic. Hardy’s work can be viewed on this website
Auda Sakho (costume designer) is a UK-based creative and artistic Costume Designer, Fashion Designer and Wardrobe Stylist from France. She received her BA in Costume Design from Wimbledon School of Art-University of Art London. Auda designs and styles for film, theatre, fashion and commercials. Auda doesn’t confine herself to any particular area of art or fashion. Auda’s work can be viewed here
Nat Green (lighting designer) is a London based freelance Lighting Designer for theatre and live music. He graduated Rose Bruford College, and enjoys very much working on fringe scale productions. Nat’s full design portfolio can be viewed here
Dmitriy Saratskiy (composer) is a co-creator and director of Ukrainian independent theatre company “Misanthrope theatre”. Professional composer, he is actively involved in theatre production.
Asya Sosis (director/producer) is a Ukrainian-born international theatre director and producer, as well as a director of a UK-based theatre company Gamayun Theatre. Asya’s distinctive artistic style brings an element of exaggerated buffoonery and grotesque irony to the plays she directs, highlighting the tragic in the comedy and the absurd in drama. Unlike much of fringe theatre stripping itself from the formalities and decoration of traditional theatre, Asya embraces it in an ironic way, allowing for a vivid, enthralling performance that engages the audience on multiple layers. Having spent half her life in Ukraine and half in the UK, experienced the instability of the 90s in a post-Soviet country and having lost her childhood home to civil war, Asya has a unique perspective, an outsider looking into both her home country and the society of Britain. She brings into her productions themes that are universal, yet acutely pertinent to the world today.
Asya has produced and directed two productions in the UK, one of which Cockroaches has gone on to participate in Camden Fringe Festival 2016 and Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2017. Asya’s second UK production, DRAGON premiered in 2019 at The Cockpit theatre and is currently frozen due to the recent pandemic. Asya has also directed a production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible in Kyiv, Ukraine, where it has now been running for 2 consecutive years.
Dates:
11-29 January 2022, Tuesday-Saturday at Old Red Lion Pub theatre
Running time: 2.5 hrs (with interval)
16+
