Popper

The Cameri production of Hanoch Levin’s Popper, directed by Moni Moshonov with original music by Omer Klein and choreography by Zahi Patish, takes a light-hearted look at the landscape Levin knows so well: the petit-bourgeoisie living lives of petty concerns and paltry joys.

Schwartz (Itzik Cohen) and Schwartzisca (Irit Kaplan) are a happily married couple, Popper (Yaniv Biton) is the third wheel, the family friend so essential to marital  happiness. But there is a careful balance to be maintained in these situations. Popper is expected to know his place: admiring Schwartzisca’s buxom beauty from afar, cheering and supporting his friend’s happiness without getting too close, or – heaven forbid! – aspiring to a measure of happiness on his own. When a tiny, pinky-sized disturbance upsets this balance, things go absurdly haywire in a typically Levinian macabre way.

The excellent cast and staging make for a very pleasurable evening. Yaniv Biton really stands out as the quintessential little guy. The talented actor enters the role with mimetic glee, he’s exuberantly pathetic and one really wants to root for him against all odds. Nadav Asulin also caught my eye as Katz, the friend who has the not-so-enviable role of being even lower on the social ladder than Popper!

On the whole, Popper is not one of my favorite Levin plays. He’s been keenly wittier elsewhere, and the play lacks the emotional impact and depth I find in some of his other plays – with one exception, Culpa, the whore. Significantly named, Culpa (Latin: guilt, blame), played to deadpan docile perfection by Sarit Vino Elad, is there for hire, do with her as you will. Levin assigns a special place to whores in his plays, here, Culpa gives wistful expression to the random quality of life in “When I Was Sixteen.” Omer Klein’s composition and Vino Elad’s performance give a searing edge to the poignant song of a sixteen year old who happens to meet the wrong man.