This quote, also a popular song lyric from a well known Arik Einstein song, was repeated multiple times throughout the musical we saw in Tel Aviv at the Cameri Theatre Monday night. The musical “פשוט לאהוב”, “Simply to Love”, takes place in the late 60s and early 70s, around the time of the Six Day War. The central theme of this show was change; changes in culture, society, lifestyle, and the economy, were all represented in this musical. It focused on the love story between the main characters Akiva and Rachel and how they are affected by the wars and changes in Israel, as well as how their friends and families are impacted. The changes in the country bring many obstacles that they have to face, such as being called to fight in the war, the tensions rising in relationships and friendships, and internal conflicts.
Seeing the show as a group was very interesting; there were no English subtitles so we had our new shinshiniot and people in the group who understand Hebrew scattered between us to help translate the show to make it easier to understand. I relied half on my knowledge of Hebrew and half on the translators and was able to understand the show pretty well. The music included Israeli songs from the time period influenced by American and British rock. While we didn’t exactly understand every word, we were able to enjoy ourselves and the music. With the animations and music and acting, we didn’t need subtitles to understand the plot and feel impacted by this powerful show. Some people felt lost when the performers would say something and the audience would laugh while many of us missed the joke and didn’t understand. Seeing a show in a new language is a cool experience. Personally, I’ve been watching and performing in musicals for as long as I can remember and this was my first time seeing one in a foreign language without subtitles. I wasn’t sure how I would feel but I’m really glad I had the chance to see this show and experience Israeli culture by doing something I love to do.