Gimpel the Fool at Spiro Ark
The final cultural event of the year and somehow it is fitting that it takes place in a small basement room, which by the power of art is transformed into a Polish shtetl; the transformation is attained by the accumulation of simple things done well– props, sound, lighting, clothes, and of course fine acting.
Howard Rypp of the Nephesh Theatre of Tel Aviv brought remarkably subtle gradations of meaning to his adaptation of Saul Bellow’s iconic translation of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s story, playing Gimpel as part Shakespearian fool, part the simple son of the Haggadah, part an almost Christianic innocent, part wide eyed Ancient Mariner. Marvellous and magical.
On the bus home, a man in a big brown hat and big brown coat and a leopard print scarf took out a harmonica and started playing Christmas tunes in a soft, understated, swampy kind of way, not for money, but because he too was a wandering troubadour, cursed to travel the globe telling his tales. It is the sort of thing that happens when you open your mind to the power of art.
who was the mysterious troubador on the bus?
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