lee meir

play dead

A two-faced performance

A dance performance which in its vernacular corresponds with the theatrical world of contemporary puppet theater. In a series of “if only” scenarios, Object Theater artist Meital Raz and choreographer Lee Meir practice in preparation for life. In their joint-imagination, they work on their survival skills and prepare themselves for the worst. By observing the principles of play in children and animals, they learn how to play with total commitment, but are also perplexed by the level of seriousness with which they have to play, and what it’s like when playing is no longer fun anymore. A two faced performance where everything is irreversible, but also reversible, and is ultimately only a game.

CHOREOGRAPHY AND PERFORMANCE : Meital Raz and Lee Méir/ DRAMATURGY: Yael Biegon-Citron/ ARTISTIC ADVICE: Idit Herman, André Lewski/ STAGE AND COSTUME DESIGN: Anat Maratkovich/ PRODUCTION: Meital Raz and Lee Méir, Clipa Theater Tel-Aviv, Diver Festival Tel-Aviv/ RESIDENCY AND SUPPORT: CC – Choreographic Center Heidelberg / Supported by the Israeli Lottery Foundation.

Press:

"… Genuinely, like only children do, the two performers lay out their longings and fears, share memories and casually invent new games. The whole piece is hilarious and deeply serious, graspable for all ages and executed with a wonderful sense of timing, facial expression and gestures "

(Isabelle von Neumann-Cosel, tanznetz.de, 01 / 02 / 2016)

“ Two elegant dancers flow with a key idea that leads them throughout the piece…..Lee Méir and Meital Raz are two talented performance makers with a very creative sense of imagination….The audience roared with laughter throughout the performance, as if it is ‘playing ‘ with the performers…..Lee Meir and Meital Raz have a unique sense of timing which is a significant property of the ‘comical’, a captivating range of subtle expressions, and in general - radiant stage present…”

(Ora Brafman, DanceTalk, Tel-Aviv, 12 / 9 / 2015)

“….During the ‘game’ the two become reindeer with finger-horns -whatever you imagine would be less funny and accurate than what actually happens….. “A two faced performance” - the two become a mythical creature - the ‘creature-ness’ of play dead- on the level of language, body, and animation is totally playful, open, explicit and cool….two super talented and wise artists…”

(Marit Ben-Israel, ‘ Ir haosher’ blog, Tel Aviv, 26 / 9 / 2015)

Presentations:

2015 Diver Festival, Tel-Aviv, Clipa Theater, Tel-Aviv 2016 Tanzbiennale, Heidelberg, The Holiday of Holidays, Haifa 2017 Clipa Theater, Tel-Aviv, Hayadit Theater, Pardes Hana, Isreal RE-SERACH Programm, Netanya, Israel, The International Puppet Theater festival,Jerusalem,Tmuna festival, Tel-Aviv 2019 Starke Stücke, Frankfurt