Israeli Artist Natalie Berlin Shares Her Journey From Teenage Pregnancy to Theater Advocacy

Natalie Berlin, 45, a resident of Katzir and mother of three, recounts her challenging youth and transformation into an artist and theater actress in Akko. Born Natalia to a Jewish father and Ukrainian mother, she immigrated to Israel from Kyrgyzstan in 1993 at age 13. Shortly after arriving, she met her future husband, an Israeli-born teenager, and quickly fell in love. By age 14, she lost her virginity in a hotel room, and at 16, she was pregnant and married in a ceremony that was conditional on her later conversion to Judaism.

Natalie left school before finishing ninth grade and worked cleaning offices. She initially lived with her husband’s family but felt isolated and trapped. After separating from him, she moved back with her parents in Katzir, determined to succeed as a young mother. She learned makeup artistry, worked in television production, and completed a Reform conversion, adopting the Hebrew name Natalie.

Later, she met and married screenwriter and director Haggai Tabet, with whom she had two more children. She became a certified yoga instructor and opened a successful studio. Despite outward success, she struggled internally with past trauma. At 35, she began therapy and started writing about her experiences, eventually creating a one-woman show titled “In My Body I Remember.” Encouraged by theater director Smadar Ya’aron, she developed a new play, “I Didn’t Call It Violence,” which addresses her personal story and will be performed in Tel Aviv on July 18.

Natalie emphasizes embracing trauma as a source of creativity rather than fighting it, sharing her truth openly on stage to inspire others.