Simta Theater Festival Transforms Old Jaffa Into Live Art Stage
Translated & summarized from Davar by baba
Simta Theater in Old Jaffa has launched a live art festival called "Into the Winds" to mark its upcoming return to its historic venue. The festival, running until Saturday evening, features diverse performances across Old Jaffa's streets and galleries. It includes eight original works exploring memory, identity, and history, with notable participants like Yael Poliakov and Ilan Peled. The event aims to connect artists, audiences, and the urban environment ahead of the theater's reopening in early 2027.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Simta Theater in Old Jaffa is hosting the "Into the Winds" live art festival before its venue reopens in 2027.
- The festival features eight original works across theater, dance, performance, and music in Old Jaffa's public spaces.
- Performers Yael Poliakov and Ilan Peled are presenting their show "Off Off Off Off Off Broadway" on Saturday.
- The artworks explore themes of memory, identity, history, and the blend of reality and imagination.
- The festival is managed by Noa Shechter and curated by Mia Landsman and Joy Rieger.
Simta Theater in Old Jaffa is celebrating its planned return to its historic home with a live art festival titled "Into the Winds." The festival, which opened Thursday and runs through Saturday evening, features theater, dance, performance, and music events staged in the alleys, galleries, and various spaces throughout Old Jaffa. Founded in 1982 by actor and director Nico Nitai, Simta Theater was a prominent center for fringe theater in Israel for decades. Its historic venue has been closed for the past three years for renovation and preservation work and is slated to reopen in early 2027.
The festival's core consists of eight short original works, divided into two routes across Old Jaffa. Each route guides audiences through four distinct pieces presented in different locations over approximately three hours. Participants include Yael Poliakov and Ilan Peled, who will present their show "Off Off Off Off Off Broadway" on Saturday evening, alongside other artists from dance, theater, and music.
The works explore themes ranging from personal memory and local history to identity, death, and the blurring of lines between reality and imagination. At "Hawd al-Asmak" (Fish Pond), creator Inas Osrof Abu Saif transforms her daily walk in Jaffa into a stage action addressing the body, place, and memory. Drag artist Alita Winter's "Tershom" connects memories of Beirut and Jaffa in a gallery performance, while Hila Gluskinus's "Come to the Grave" creates a ritual of disappearance centered on songs of death and farewell.
The streets, buildings, and history of Jaffa are integral to the artworks. The second route features works combining dance, sound, and video art. Mila Levi's "Anchored" is a dance piece with live music exploring attraction to danger through siren and sailor imagery. Abigail Rose's "Sol Seeker" is a performance and installation examining digital memory and the transfer of music and files. Artist Asirmassi leads a video art tour in an ancient Ottoman-era house, exploring Jaffa's historical layers from a personal perspective.
Poliakov and Peled's closing performance features two characters dreaming of the stage, whose struggles with jealousy and competition intertwine familiar theatrical scenes with their lives. The festival is managed by Noa Shechter and curated by actresses and creators Mia Landsman and Joy Rieger. Its aim is to expand the boundaries of the traditional stage and foster an encounter between artists, the audience, and the urban space, in anticipation of the theater's return to its renovated venue.