Mikro Theater

Mikro Theater (Hebrew: תיאטרון מיקרו) is an Israeli professional theater based in Jerusalem. It was founded in 1994 by director Irina Gorlik, who immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union and established the theater as an acting studio continuing the tradition of Russian theater, inspired by the work of Konstantin Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. Over the years the studio developed into a professional theater group, and in 2004 it was recognized as a professional theater in Israel by the Culture Administration. From 2004 until the summer of 2014, the theater performed regularly in the small hall of the Khan Theater in Jerusalem. In April 2018, the theater faced the risk of closure due to a budget shortage, but funding was eventually secured to continue its activities. Since the 2014–15 season, the theater has performed in a hall built especially for it at the Jerusalem Theater, and an additional floor of offices was built adjacent for the theater's management. This gave Mikro Theater a home of its own and clear recognition of its cultural importance and artistic value. The theater's repertoire is based largely on original plays and original adaptations of classical and modern literary works relating to Israeli and Jewish culture. Notable productions include adaptations of Thomas Mann's "Joseph and His Brothers," Isaac Bashevis Singer's "Enemies, A Love Story," and Meir Shalev's "A Few Days." It has also staged well-known plays less familiar to Israeli audiences, such as Tennessee Williams's "A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur" and Hanoch Levin's "Shoses and Bezhizhina," which was first performed at Mikro Theater. Since 2017, the theater has turned toward contemporary art, working with Israeli playwright Roee Maliach-Reshef and choreographer Miriam Engel, incorporating elements of abstraction and movement into some of its works. Irina Gorlik served as artistic director from the theater's founding until 2021, adapting and directing many productions. At the end of 2021, she retired from her role as artistic director and was replaced by Yefim Rinenberg, a theater director, actor, translator, and writer who had been part of the theater studio since its establishment in 1994. Yossi Zinger has served as the theater's general manager since 2015. With the move to the hall at the Jerusalem Theater, Mikro Theater began absorbing new actors from graduates of the Nissan Nativ Studio in Jerusalem, and today a significant portion of the theater's actors are graduates of the studio. The word "Mikro" used as the theater's name is spelled "MIKRO" in the logo, deviating from the standard English spelling "MICRO." The reason is that the logo was designed to resemble the Russian spelling, in which the word is spelled with the letter "K." The theater bears the name "Mikro Theater" from its founding by Lev Gorlik, father of the theater's founder. Gorlik founded a comedy theater in the city of Saratov in Russia.

Mikro Theater began in 1994 as an acting studio founded by Irina Gorlik after she immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union. The studio continued the tradition of Russian theater, in the spirit of the work of Konstantin Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. Over the years, the studio developed into a professional theater group. In 2004, Mikro Theater was recognized as a professional theater in Israel by the Culture Administration. From 2004 until the summer of 2014, the theater performed regularly in the small hall of the Khan Theater in Jerusalem. In April 2018, the theater was at risk of closure due to a budget shortage, but funding was eventually secured to continue its activities. Irina Gorlik, the theater's founder, served as artistic director from its founding until 2021, adapting and directing many productions during this period. Alongside her worked a professional team including a permanent acting troupe, regular directors, set designers, a choreographer, and a translator. The theater's notable productions include original adaptations of masterpieces from Israeli and world literature: "Joseph and His Brothers" by Thomas Mann; "Enemies, A Love Story" by Isaac Bashevis Singer; "A Few Days" by Meir Shalev. In addition, the theater stages well-known plays less familiar to the Israeli audience. Thus were performed "A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur" by Tennessee Williams, and the play "Shoses and Bezhizhina" by Hanoch Levin, which was first staged at Mikro Theater. Since 2017, the theater has turned to a contemporary artistic direction – as part of this, the theater began working with Israeli playwright Roee Maliach-Reshef and choreographer Miriam Engel, who created and incorporated elements from the field of abstraction and movement into some of the theater's works. From the 2014–15 season, the theater has performed in a hall built especially for it at the Jerusalem Theater. In addition to the new hall, an additional floor of offices was built adjacent to the theater for the use of the theater's management. In this way, Mikro Theater gained a home of its own and clear recognition of its cultural importance and artistic value. As general manager of the theater since 2015, Yossi Zinger serves. At the end of 2021, Irina Gorlik retired from her role as artistic director and was replaced by Yefim Rinenberg, a theater director, actor, translator, and writer who had been part of the theater studio established in 1994. With the move to the hall at the Jerusalem Theater, Mikro Theater began absorbing new actors from graduates of the Nissan Nativ Studio in Jerusalem. Today, a significant portion of the theater's actors are graduates of the studio. The word "Mikro" used as the theater's name is spelled "MIKRO" in the logo, deviating from the standard English spelling "MICRO." The reason is that the logo was designed to resemble the Russian spelling, in which the word is spelled with the letter "K." The theater bears the name "Mikro Theater" from its founding by Lev Gorlik, father of the theater's founder. Gorlik founded a comedy theater in the city of Saratov in Russia.

• 2021

  Irina Gorlik retires; Yefim Rinenberg becomes artistic director

• 2018

  Faced closure risk due to budget shortage, funding secured

• 2017

  Shift toward contemporary art direction

• 2015

  Yossi Zinger appointed general manager

• 2014

  Moved to a dedicated hall at the Jerusalem Theater

• 2004

  Recognized as a professional theater by the Culture Administration

• 2004

  Began regular performances at the Khan Theater small hall

• 1994

  Founded as an acting studio by Irina Gorlik

Professional repertory theater focused on original Israeli and Jewish-themed literary adaptations, with a contemporary art direction since 2017.

Product categories. Theater productions · Original plays · Literary adaptations · Children's and youth performances

1. 1Mikro Theater - Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2תיאטרון מיקרו - Wikipedia (Hebrew)he.wikipedia.org
3. 3Official websitemikro.co.il