Just in time for the holidays, the Cameri Theatre presents Sam Holcroft’s Rules for Living, a dark comedy focusing on family relationships, adapted and directed by Erez Drigues. The Christmas season in Holcroft’s original play is replaced here by the Passover Seder, which, like Christmas, brings families together and sometimes tear them apart, as adult sons and daughters return to the family home and dysfunctional patterns emerge once more. In this case, there is a clever twist, as Holcroft shines a spotlight on those patterns of behavior, highlighting each family member’s “rules” – the coping methods they have developed (whether positive or negative) for dealing with life. For example, Liora, the mother, cleans the house obsessively to remain calm in times of stress.
The rules for each character are clearly displayed for the audience to see and take note. Alessandra Nardi’s set design takes this concept to visual splendor – the realistic scene of a family kitchen and dining area is set within a wooden game board, the kind that closes into a box for ease of travel. The game squares surround the home stage, and on the upper portion the character’s rules are displayed in lights. The rules set up an expectation, heightening the amusement when the character behaves exactly as the rules predict.
As the play opens, Matan (Shoham Sheiner) has brought his girlfriend Shirley (Yaeli Rozenblit) home to meet his parents for the first time. An aspiring actor, Shirley is eager to please and her over-the-top efforts to get a laugh from Matan’s family members are a wacky joy to see. Matan for his part, reassures her that they like her – but, because we see the rule “Matan must sit down to lie” we know he’s lying. And so it goes… Matan and his older brother Boaz (Eran Mor) are both lawyers, as their authoritarian father Avigdor (Dudu Niv) decreed, but each has his own secret desires and regrets. Aya (Andrea Schwartz) is married to Boaz, and they have a 14-year-old daughter Yuval (Shy Halevi). There must be trouble in paradise, for Aya’s rule is “Aya must drink in order to contradict.”
There are tensions and secrets simmering beneath the smooth veneer of this family holiday reunion, and as individually and collectively they try to make the holiday go smoothly, everything heats up. Adding to the turmoil and stress by his absence is Avigdor, the father, who apparently fainted and was taken to the hospital. When he finally does arrive, grievances past and present rise to the surface, secrets are revealed, and the comedy comes to a chaotic climax.
For anyone who has anticipated, sometimes enjoyed, sometimes endured, and then recovered from a festive meal with family, that feeling of being stuck in patterns of behavior strikes a familiar chord. And yet, there is an inherent limitation in Holcroft’s structure of rules for each character. Initially, the audience’s sense of being ‘in the know’ and able to identify and predict the different characters’ behaviors, contributes to the amusement. However, a strict adherence to the rules leaves the characters somewhat stuck, with nowhere to go but rather strident, as the tensions rise. To the extent that there is a rigidity built into the text, it is compensated for by strong performances all-around by the ensemble cast.
Rules for Living
By Sam Holcroft
Adapted and Directed by Erez Drigues
Set Design: Alessandra Nardi; Costume Design: Orna Behrendt Shimony; Music: Cnaan Levkovich; Video Design: Vitali Friedland; Lighting Design: Keren Granek; Assistant Director: Ruty Gefen; Producer: Adi Polyak; Cast: Odeya Koren (Liora), Dudu Niv (Avigdor), Eran Mor (Boaz), Andrea Schwartz (Aya), Shoham Sheiner (Matan), Yaeli Rozenblit (Shirley), Shy Halevi (Yuval)
