Israeli television surprises and succeeds again with ‘Rehearsals‘ (‘Chazarot‘ in Hebrew), another series that has a chance to be an international success (after the success at home) and turn into a ‘formula’ to be exported and re-located in other parts of the world. But this time it’s not about war stories and the heroes are not agents of the Mossad or other Israeli security services, but a couple of young people who just broke up after writing a play about the relationship between them, and which then is turned it into a performance on the stage of a theatre. And to make the story of the series even more interesting, ‘Chazarot‘ is written and acted by the couple in the staged story. Tzutz and Tzutz, or Iris and Tomer, or Noa Koller and Erez Drigues are the writers, actors and heroes of the play whose rehearsals are the subject of the series ‘Rehearsals‘. Theatre in theatre in television series – here is a formula that can not fail at a time when some television viewers are terribly longing for theatre performances, and the rest of them want to see smart and interesting romantic comedies.
The ten episodes of the first season describe the path of the play from the moment of the first audition-reading to the premiere, in parallel with the evolution of the relationship between Iris and Tomer (she is the playwright, he is the stage director) who split at the end of the first episode after living together for several years. It is clear that much of the show’s charm is based on the chemistry (or anti-chemistry) between the two protagonists and the (highly publicised) fact that Noa Koler and Erez Drigues were indeed a couple sometime in the past, which contributed to the increased interest of Israeli spectators. But just as interesting are the characters of the actors who play them on stage. Agam Rudberg is a young and immensely talented actress, who adds another formidable role to a series of performances on stage and on the big and small screens that have made her a leader of her generation of actresses and actors. Itay Turgeman matches her by completing the image of a couple of young actors who are intoxicated by the status of stars that they acquired and face the ambitions and insecurities specific to them and the generation they belong to. Other formidable roles are played by Evgenia Dodina as the director of the theatre and Shmil Ben Ari as the star / sacred monster of the stage, cabotine and scared of the advancing age. As I mentioned sacred monsters, it is worth mentioning Gila Almagor who appears in a single episode but in what role, that of a minister of culture who seems to be a synthesis of all politicians who have held this position for the last 25 years.
‘Chazarot‘ conquered the Israeli audiences through spiritual dialogues, comic rhythm and tasteful elements of satire, a dose of well-tempered romance, and the performances of actors who each performed memorable roles and did not try in any way or moment to capture the screen just for them. The series managed to keep the interest throughout the ten episodes, avoiding repetitions and the feeling of excessive prolongation of the story. The sincerity of the approach and the love for theatre radiated from each episode. I am very curious how and if ‘Chazarot‘ will succeed abroad and if the second season (announced at the end of the first and after its success) will bring enough new things to keep the interest and sympathy of the home audiences.