See saw: Heritage under the Hammer

Israel on Stage

This Sunday,Siri Fort Auditorium will be the stage for Stempenyu,a play by Edna Mazya and performed by the Cameri Theatre,one of Israel’s leading theatre groups. The play is based on the book by the same name by Shalom Aleichem,a highly celebrated Israeli writer who also wrote Teyve and his Daughters (on which both the acclaimed musical and the movie Fiddler on the Roof are based). The play revolves around a gifted musician and notorious heart-breaker called Stempenyu and his love for a married woman called Rochele. The play will be performed in Hebrew,with English subtitles,and has been directed by Mazya and Yehezkel Lazarov. Entry to the play is free.

Comics company

The country’s stand-up comedians do not have a dearth of venues to perform. Now Bonobo Productions,which owns resto-club Bonobo in Mumbai’s Bandra,has decided to take on the job of starting an agency for stand-up comedians. While a pertinent name for this agency is still being decided,owner Neville Timbadia announced this development during the recent Naked Comedy Festival in Mumbai. “Comedy is picking up in India and people are looking at comedy as an excellent form of entertainment for different events,private parties,corporate events,weddings and restaurant shows,” says Timbadia,who has already signed on stand-ups such as Vir Das,Sorabh Pant,Rohan Joshi,Tanmay Bhat and Aditi Mittal. “We are a one-stop website to book comedians according to price and events. We are offering a platform to make it easy for anyone in India to check out the website and email their booking request,” he concludes.