About the performance
Hannah Arendt's writings,documented conversationsand letters have left a large “shadow” on the field of understandingthe political in philosophy, sociology and in the public discourse. The word “shadow” also appears as the title of an intimateletter she sent to the German philosopher Martin Heideggerfrom Königsberg in April 1925.Already at the age of nineteen, she hadrecognizedher life's longing, which awakened in her a critical thought and prompted her to reflect on themeaning of a life permeated by the constant fear of death. Through the life and work of Saint Augustine, she analyzedthe constitutive and inevitable behaviorof man in a society that surrenders to violence and geopolitical appetites. Autonomy and authenticity in work and in life marked her at an early age and led her to understand human existence as simple and banal. She saw the world as a debased society,the world in which the issuesofthe human originand the social dynamicshave shaken and continue to shake humanity today. She did not spend her youthin a peaceful world and because of her family's intellectual background, she soon began to recognizethe unknownplaces behind fear and longing and confronted her professor, lover and friend Martin Heidegger with this idea of existence.In this relationship, her radicalism, which was rooted in her mother's free-thinking principles, was transformed fromdiffuse thoughts into aphilosophical expression. Her conventional role as allegedly submissive one in the position of power in her relationship with the married professor, was maybe not that submissive at all. Hannah, a woman full of contradictions, had already proved as a young student that her existence was a complex shadow that helped her to construct her identity as an academic genius and, at the same time, a shadow that continually immersed her in the unconscious spaces of the banality of life, from which she wanted to escape and surrender herself to sensuality.
The unstoppable rise of new forms of totalitarianism, nationalism and the eruption of war zones have made her ideas crucial in understanding a society that, living abundantly in peaceful areas, forgets the world's graveyards. She reminds us that a profound renewal of social and political bodies, through revolution to establish the need for justice and peace, could overcome geopolitical appetites and ideological divisions. Hannah understood how important it is for each individual to be aware of his or her responsibility in co-creating the world in which he or she lives. Her thesis, which puts humanity before other qualities, views the human being through the prism of a being who co-creates morality, community and responsibility. It puts this equation before its body of politic, which is misled by modern ideologies that hide the appetites of the ruling elites. They use the “little man” only as a weapon to invisibly achieve capitalist and geopolitical goals.
Hannah Arendt and Martin Heidegger were key philosophical figures of the 20th century in Europe and later in the world. Their relationship raised many issues in the patriarchally closed structures of academia, which developed into open debates and in-depth analyses. Their relationship still causes divisions in the evaluation of the position of power, which is perceived diametrically in oppositionby the various interest groups of the newly emerging movements. Their relationship was extremely complex because of Heidegger's academic and philosophical position and the structurally “submissive” position she occupied as a young student. They began their relationship in his study,on the premises of an academic institution. Heidegger was already established, while Arendt was just beginning heroutstandingcareer. Their relationship was fraught with philosophical, emotional and ethical tensions. Some have pointed out that Heidegger used Arendt exclusively for his sexual appetites and used her knowledge to help him write his philosophical treatises.Although the intimate truth will never be fully revealed, the correspondence of letters between them demonstrates a deep connection that transcends social, personal or socio-sexual norms and does not necessarily point to naked exploitation to satisfy an older man who puts his knowledge and power before his student. On the basis of the published documents, their relationship symbolically depicted an existence beyond social structures and allowed the growth of a shared geniusin both of them, which on both sides was strengthened and proportionally co-shaped in the turbulent times in which they lived.It should be remembered that Hannah Arendt's school of thought, from its focus on political action and social responsibility, moved away from Heidegger's ontological questions altogether. Through her work, we can recognizea critical, daring development and a detached perspective that reveals her incredible ability and courage to express the most provocative ideas about the meaning of violence in society. Over the decades, she has become an important and immortal philosophical icon whose work will remind us again and again of humanity's blindness and superficial understanding of the world. If we are courageous enough to face her work beyond our personal limitations, we may once again understand the essence of human existencein the world and begin to co-create a world where respect and humanity reign supreme.
About the director
Yonatan Esterkin is a theatre director, writer, professor and translator from Tel Aviv. After working as a journalist and writing theatre reviews for leading publications, Esterkin turned to directing, teaching acting technique and historyof theatreat the Israeli theatre schools Beit Zvi, Nissan Nativ and Yoram Lewinstein. Later he worked as a director in leading repertory public theatres, such as Haifa Theater, The Cameri theater Tel Aviv, Habima National theater and in a theatre that produces Yiddish plays and events. Two of his award-winning plays in Slovenia, The Jewish Dog and The Eternal Child, have toured to the United Solo Festival in New York and the London Festival. In Los Angeles, he directed the American production of The Jewish Dog for the Wallis Anenberg Center, and has worked with the Skirball Center and Odyssey Theatre. He currently lives in New York, where he directed Shelterand The Labor of Life at the Tank Theatre. He holds a BA in Political Science and MA in Theatre Directing and Theatre Studies, both from Tel Aviv University. In 2014 he represented Israel's theatre at the Theatre Treffen Festival and in 2015 he participated in the Hospitanz programme of the Gorki Theatre in Berlin.
