The opening night of "Bar Mitzvah Time" at the Mesamhey Lev theater in central Israel is promising to be an extraordinary one, with Yinon Davidian, a 16-year old Ultra-Orthodox actor with Down syndrome, to take the lead role.
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"For years, I hoped to make my theater dreams come true, day and night – and here we are, I succeeded," Davidian told Israel Hayom.
"Bar Mitzvah Time" was created especially for Davidian by well-known Haredi Israeli actor Ofer Halevi. It has already been performed at schools and ultra-Orthodox cultural events.
Q: What was it like preparing for the play? Was it difficult for you to learn your script?
"Not at all. It was easy. I learned the script by heart when they gave it to me, and when they made changes afterward, I managed to learn them as well."
Q: The play was delayed for a year and a half because of the pandemic. How did you deal with that?
"I continued going to yeshiva, composing music, playing the keyboards. I also recorded a video for Israelis during this time to cheer up those who could not leave their homes [due to a lockdown]. I sang them happy songs."
Davidian's video was posted on the Hidabrut website, popular among Haredim.
Q: What else do you like to do in your free time?
"I like to sing at weddings, to make the bride and groom happy, but also at bar mitzvahs and other events. I like to have fun, to make people happy. When there is an event at our yeshiva, everyone jumps on me and sings. I create melodies for Psalm verses, and sometimes I play music and sing songs and compose my own."
At every performance, Davidian is supported by his parents, Dan and Anat, who were both born in secular families and became religious later in life.
Dan: "In the beginning, Anat was in a complete shock, as all mothers are when they find out they are carrying a baby with Down syndrome. It took Anat a year to come to herself. I, in turn, had a more practical reaction. I mostly thought of what we were supposed to do now. We went to ask a rabbi whether we should continue to have children because Anat was very worried. The rabbi encouraged us to continue, not to stop, and with God's help, [he said that] every child born next will only be good for Yinon. And that is exactly what happened."
Anat: "We had two more children after Yinon, and it was very good for him. As a child, he functioned, spoke and sang - and now he even stars in a play."
The couple has seven children altogether, Yinon was their fifth child.
Dan: "When Yinon was born, we were advised to treat him as a normal child, like the rest of our children. We fully adhered. When one believes that everything comes from God, he knows to accept that all is for the best because it comes from love."
Davidian studies at a yeshiva in Bnei Brak, where he learns the Talmud, Jewish law and Torah commentary. It is at this yeshiva that his theater journey began.
"I saw Ofer and his colleagues at a performance at the yeshiva, and I really wanted to join them," he said. "To perform alongside them. They are awesome."
Halevi runs the Mesamhey Lev theater. Just like Davidian's parents, he too, became religious.
The two met when Davidian was volunteering with colleagues at the Bnei Brak yeshiva, performing a play.
Halevi: "I saw Yinon, a sweet child, who wanted to go on stage and participate, and we invited him. I did not think that anything more would come of it until one day his father, Dan, called me and said, 'Yinon has a dream to star as a real actor in one of your plays, and I want to help make his dream come true. What do you think?'
"In the beginning, I was skeptical," Halevi continued. "I spoke to Izo Leibowitz, who would eventually become the director of the play, and we created a minor role for Yinon. But when we met him and saw what he could do, we realized that he is very talented and he can play a lead role.
"That is when we decided to come up with one just for him, with a story that would have a connection to him. The message of the play is that if you believe in yourself, you can achieve anything. When I saw the parents, how much they invested in Yinon and how much they believed in him, it encouraged me to create a play for him, a professional production with professional actors.
"Yinon read the Torah scroll at his bar mitzvah. For a child like him, to read the Torah is very rare. What stood out in his story is the possibility to communicate to the audience an important message."
"Bar Mitzvah Time" tells the story of a young boy – portrayed by Davidian – who promises to help his friend who has no money to create a video for his bar mitzvah. He turns to an actor for help – portrayed by Halevi – whose colleague had just left town unexpectedly and needed help to stage a play. That is when he tells the boy, "It is not that I am helping you, rather you are helping me."
Halevi: "In another part of the play, my character – a father – has a son born with Down syndrome and sinks into a terrible depression. Yinon comforts him, and strengthens him, and shows him a different perspective on children with Down syndrome, and gives the father hope."
Q: Did the theater operate during the coronavirus?
"We had several performances scheduled, but the coronavirus brought everything to a stop. After the lockdowns, we began performing the play and already have shows scheduled in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak, Petah Tikva, Holon and more.
"Our goal is to get people to see youth with Down syndrome with acceptance. Several times throughout the play, Yinon says, 'I am normal, I am just like you.'"
Mesamhey Lev is located in Elad, where Halevi and his family live. It has been staging plays for more than 20 years. According to Halevi, only recently have plays performed for Haredi audiences become professional.
Q: Haven't there always been plays for the ultra-Orthodox?
"There were some, but it was never anything professional. These weren't graduates of acting schools. We, who became religious, but had already performed in the secular world, brought something new to the community."
Q: When did you start creating plays for Haredim?
"The plays were initially intended for non-religious audiences, but we noticed all of a sudden that the halls were filled with ultra-Orthodox viewers to the brim. We even hired security guards for the entrances because so many tried to enter. That is when I understood I had a mission.
"I felt I had an opportunity to communicate messages that I believe in through my acting. After consulting with a rabbi, I came up with the idea of a Haredi theater with professional productions, with lighting, sound and decorations, and the works. With time, we grew and currently have 10 plays we perform, which have been seen by approximately about a quarter of a million people."
Q: Who are the actors playing in your theater? As we know, there are no acting schools for Haredim.
"That's true. Most of our actors became religious. Very few actors are actual Haredim, from birth. I only have one such actor on my staff. He used to be a teacher in Beit Shemesh, and one day he decided to make his dream of becoming an actor come true and turned to us. He was a very good student, for he has a natural talent for acting, and since then, he's been performing in our plays."
According to Halevi, the Haredi community has become more accepting of theater and demand for acting has been on the rise.
"We are planning to establish a Haredi acting school in Elad soon," he said. "A special one for youngsters, a completely professional school. Both boys and girls will be able to study there, in separate classrooms, two or three times a week.
"The Haredi community is very open now to accept things like this. They have come to understand that art is part of Jewish culture, and that through art one can communicate a message in a way no less effective than a lecture, if not more."
The seasoned actor said that even ultra-Orthodox rabbis come to Mesamhey Lev.
"Quite a lot of Haredi rabbis come up to me and say, 'I also deserve to spend a few hours relaxing, laughing and disconnecting," he said.
Mesamhey Lev is currently seeking official recognition from the Culture Ministry, which would in turn, provide more funds.
"We don't receive funding right now, but we are negotiating with the Culture Ministry to recognize us as a theater," Halevi said. "I hope in the future we will be able to receive funds that will help us continue our work. There is some discrimination in this matter, for we are a Haredi theater, no doubt."
Q: What is your audience like?
"Our plays can fit any audience, we adapt ourselves. Of course, we mostly target ultra-Orthodox viewers, but we have performed in front of religious Zionist and secular people as well."
Q: What about female audiences?
"We have a separate theater for women as well, in which only actresses perform. I run this one as well. We hope to have even more plays and more performances, which, hopefully, we will arrange once we have more funds."
Q: What is the main message you try to convey through Mesamhey Lev?
"The importance of accepting someone who is different. In one of our plays, there's a line where I say, 'All wars in the world happened because we did not respect the other person's choice.' Our motto is accepting a person with differences, and Yinon's play comes just in time to convey that message."
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