Educational morning
Wednesday 28th January at 10:00
Theatre performance The Jewish Dog and conversation
For schools
The Jewish Dog is written by Asher Kravitz, directed by Yonatan Esterkin with actor Miha Rodman.
About the performance
The Jewish Dog (Yediot Books, 2007) is an autobiography of Cyrus, a dog born in mid-1930s into the household of the German-Jewish family Gottlieb. Cyrus is a special dog, unusually sensitive to humans’ emotions and determined to fully comprehend human speech. The novel follows his life and contemplations while he’s making his way through Europe during World War II. Cyrus witnesses the rise of Nazism and the Holocaust, and all the love he knows comes from the Gottlieb family.
A Nazi decree forces the family out of their home, and unfortunate events separate them from Cyrus. His path leads form a loving Jewish family to a stray dog, a wild pack, and even to an SS Nazi guard dog at the Treblinka extermination camp. He undergoes several name changes, he is left to himself in increasingly dangerous situations, the only thing keeping him alive is his strong survival instinct, and all he yearns is to be reunited with the Gottlieb family.
With skillful fluidity of language, Kravitz employs ingeniously harrowing metaphors and imagery to describe historic events of World War II as seen by an unusually sensitive and insightful Jewish dog. The result is a powerful and heart-wrenching narrative, and Cyrus is poignant and unforgettable character.
