Vision to Reality: The Reut Blog

Lacking a historic tradition may actually facilitate the creation of a unique advantage for Israeli theatre centered on innovation. However, current economic uncertainty makes such innovation harder and thus requires government intervention.

Last Friday I attended the “Opening Stage” festival organized by Beit Lessin Theatre. The festival presents plays written by young Israeli playwrights in order to help home grown productions with their ‘labor pains’, encourage new Israeli talent and enrich the repertoire of more established theatres with new plays.

In practice, the festival serves as an “incubator,” where through a process of ‘R&D’ – writing workshops and engaging with directors – a product is created: a new, original, Israeli play.

 In addition to contributing to Israel’s GDP and employment, theatre also adds to the country’s quality of life and global positioning. In the context of leapfrogging, Israel may thus choose to nurture ‘theatre’ as part of its unique and global development policy. 

Part of the festival focused on discussing Israeli homegrown playwrights and the festival’s contribution towards them. Contrary to other countries that have a wealth of theatre tradition, Israel has yet to form its own classic plays. Ironically, it would seem that Israel’s comparative advantage in this industry is its lack of tradition which facilitates more innovation and creativity.

On the other hand, a concern was raised regarding the demand for assured success which might limit playwrights in their artistic choices and make it harder for them to deviate from well trodden paths. In other words, economic considerations and uncertainty regarding the success of the product might reduce the ‘courage of entrepreneurs’ (in this case playwrights) and restrict their movement in the theatrical ‘product space’ (original styles).

This is where the Government comes in. In the current reality, in which uncertainty and risk limit entrepreneurship in industry where Israel has unique comparative advantage, the government should intervene, sharing the risk and enabling discovery and innovation that will lead to global competitiveness.

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