Avishai Milshtein (; born 1964) is an Israeli playwright, theatre director, actor, translator, and dramaturg.
Biography Avishai Milshtein grew up in Ramat Gan.Dov Alfon (October 14, 1987). In the Direction of the Wind. Koteret Rashit. p. 43. He is the only child of two Polish-born parents who were Holocaust survivors.Hila Aharon Brick (September 2, 2015). An interview: Love stories between individuals and between nations. Habama.
He began acting in plays at the age of ten at the Eretz Oz Theater.Yaron Fried (November 19, 1987). Theatre Critic: The Power of Air Conditioning. Hadashot. p. 23. He appeared in children's plays such as Heidi, Hannah's Sabbath Dress, Tom Sawyer,Yaron Fried (July 20, 1988). The Never-Ending Hanale. Koteret Rashit. p. 45. and Hasamba (playing the role of Yaron Zahavi).Aya Orenstein (October 7, 1976). Hasanba and purple light. Maariv. He also had small roles in the film Noa at 17 (directed by Isaac "Zepel" Yeshurun, 1982).Noa at 17. Israel Film Fund. He graduated from the Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts, majoring in theater (1978–1982).Haim Nagid (January 11, 1991). What We Had in 1992. Maariv. p. 6. While a student at Thelma Yellin, he performed in the school's production of The Threepenny Opera by Brecht and Weill. Impressed by the work, Milstein decided to study the German language. He studied at the Goethe-Institut in Tel Aviv and Düsseldorf (1981–1985).Merav Yudilevich (March 10, 2008). Who invented Hitler?. Ynet.
Career At the age of sixteen, in 1980, Milstein directed for the first time a work he had written - The Sparrow, an opera composed by Dori Parnes (then seventeen); a co-production between Thelma Yellin and Beit Lessin Theater, May 1980.Sigal Reshef (October 2, 1987). When I Grow Up. Ha'ir. p. 33. In the Israel Defense Forces, he served as a radio operator in the Signal Corps, Central Command.Avishai Milshtein. Ishim.
His play Then As Death (Az Kamavet), directed by Shoshana Riseman, was presented at the Acco Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre in 1987 and received an honorable mention for both the play and the production.Haim Nagid (October 14, 1987). Acre: First Prize for “Widows”. Maariv. He studied theater, literature, and German philology at LMU Munich, Germany (1986–1990). Starting in 2003, he taught dramatic writing at the University of Hildesheim, Germany,Zipi Shohat (April 27, 2003). Avishai Milstein writes a play for a Berlin theatre about Holocaust commemoration in the city. Haaretz. and taught at the Berlin University of the Arts.Lilach Gavish (April 19, 2009). Interview: Enemies, A Love Story. Habama. Founder and head of the Theater Department at Alliance High School, Tel Aviv (1997–2001).Avishai Milshtein. Habama.
Milstein founded the Notzar Theater, together with Dalit Milstein (no family relation), and served as its artistic director and as the director of the Association for the Advancement of Theater in Jaffa (1991–2004).Gad Kaynar (December 2016). Being Avant-Garde in the Province: Notzar Theater Celebrates 25 Years of Alternative Creation in Bat Yam. Gad Kaynar, Haim Nagid (ed.).Teatron - An Israeli Quarterly for Contemporary Theatre 42, p. 90-112. The Notzar Theater's first production was The War Plays by Edward Bond. The production was staged at the Acco Festival in October 1992 and won awards for design and guest performance.(December 1, 1992). Premier Productions in Israeli Theatre September-November 1992. Bama. In 1997, Milstein directed the Israeli premiere of the classic play Penthesilea by Heinrich von Kleist, produced by the Notzar Theater.Avishai Milstein (April 1998). The riddle that hinders the conquest of Troy. Iton 77. Vol. 218. pp 32-33. The production was later presented at the Trailblazers Festival in Aachen, Germany.
His first play to be staged in a repertory theater was Piwnica, which he also directed at Habima Theatre in 1994.Piwnica. Habima Theatre. He served as a dramaturg for the Habima Theatre from 1990 to 1995.Avishai Milshtein. Habima Theatre. Guest dramaturg for the production of The Merchant of Venice, directed by Hanan Snir, at the Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle Weimar in Weimar (1995) and at the Israel Festival in Jerusalem (1996). Dramaturg and artistic consultant for the Beit Lessin Theater since 1995.(May 22, 2018).Mother Teresa Is Gone at the Haifa Theatre. Habama. In 1996, he received the America-Israel Cultural Foundation directing Scholarship.
In 2001, he was one of the three directors of the Israeli TV Sitcom "Shachar".Noam Segev (July 15, 2001). Itai Segev playing Tootsie. Ynet. In 2012, he performed in the play “Maxi and I”, which was staged at the Beit Lessin Theatre.Maya Nahum Shachal (September 3, 2015). "Germany Is Also Home". Calcalist. In 2023, he played in the TV series "Berlin Blues", produced by yes.Berlin Blues. Yes.
Founder and artistic director of the “Curtain Opens” Festival for Young Israeli Playwriting at Beit Lessin Theatre since 2000, in which 300 plays were staged over its first 20 years.Jacob Bar-On (September 2, 2021). Avishai Milstein: “Our vision is to create the classics of the generations to come.” Maariv Online. He initiated “IsraDrama – A Spotlight on Israeli Drama”, a collaboration between The Hanoch Levin Institute of Israeli Drama, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Culture. He served as the festival's artistic director in 2005,Zipi Shohat (November 18, 2007). Too much Hanoch Levine. Haaretz. 2010, and 2012.Maya Nachum- Shachal (October 16, 2012). Drama Queen: Maya Tavi on Her Role in Representing Israel’s Leading Playwrights Worldwide. Calcalist. In 2005, he founded the “Opening Stage” Festival for Young Israeli Playwriting at Beit Lessin Theatre.Zipi Shohat (May 3, 2004). Play Reading Festival at Beit Lessin Theatre. Haaretz. In 2012, he founded and managed the Playwriting School of Beit Lessin Theatre in collaboration with Stage Center.
In 2007, he directed “Murder” by Hanoch Levin as part of the F.I.N.D. Festival at the Schaubühne Theatre, Berlin. In 2008, he directed “Mein Kampf” by George Tabori at the Theater Freiburg, Germany, in collaboration with the E-Werk Museum. The play tells the story of a Jew who mentors the young Hitler and inspires him to write Mein Kampf.Jonathan Scheiner (May 10, 2007). Israelische Regisseure beim Berliner Theatertreffen »tt 07«. Jüdische Allgemeine. He served as co-artistic director (together with Jan Linders) of the project “Familienbande” (“Family Ties”), a joint initiative between Beit Lessin Theatre, Tel Aviv, and the Heidelberg Municipal Theatre, Germany.Ayelet Dekel (October 3, 2011). Beit Lessin & Heidelberg: Family Ties, The Next Generation?. Midnight East. The project presented six bi-national productions beginning in May 2009.Michael Handelzalts (December 26, 2012). German-Israeli Co-production Is Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts. Haaretz. Milstein directed “The Banality of Love” by Savyon Liebrecht at Beit Lessin Theatre in January 2009.Michael Handelzalts (February 18, 2009). Love and Time. Haaretz. The production won the 2010 Israeli Theatre Award for Best Original Play of the Year.Michal Palati (May 16, 2010). Israeli Theatre Award winner: "The Banality of Love". Haaretz. It opened the "Stuckemarkt" festival, Heidelberg, in 2010 and was later hosted by the Theater Freiburg in May of that year. In 2011, he directed “The Merchant of Venice” by Shakespeare at the Theater Freiburg, Germany, with Doron Tavori in the lead role.Annette Hoffmann (March 19, 2011). Der Kaufmann von Venedig – Avishai Milstein betrachtet Shakespeare interkulturell. Nachtkritik.de. In 2015, Beit Lessin Theatre premiered his play “Don’t Forget to Love – Love Hurts.” The production is based on 35 interviews with Israeli and German mixed couples, telling their stories 70 years after Auschwitz and exactly 50 years after the signing of diplomatic relations between Germany and Israel. The play was staged as a co-production with the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe.(September 30, 2015). To love and be. deutschland.de.
Personal life He is married to Marit Joffe-Milstein, a former actress. They live in Tel Aviv and have three children.Jacob Bar-On (January 13, 2022). “His Death Was an Indescribable Shock”: Adam Milstein Talks About the Song He Wrote in Memory of Ari Nesher. Maariv Online.
Book Editor and co-chief contributor of the book Israeli drama: synopses of selected Hebrew plays for distribution through Israel's official cultural delegations and to international festival directors. The project was initiated and published by Kashtum — the Department of Cultural and Scientific Relations of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs — in 2000;Israeli drama: synopses of selected Hebrew plays / [editor, Asher Weill a revised edition edited by him was published in 2009.
Prizes and Awards 1987 - Special mention for the Best Play for “Then As Death”, Acco Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre.Adam Horowitz (November 6, 1987). Once There Were Two Friends. Ha'ir. 1992 - Design prize for “War Plays”, Acco Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre. 1994 - The Ben Nachum Prize for the Hebrew version of Bond’s “War Plays”. 2001 - Simon Gardiner Playwright's Award for "The Border and the Return". 2010 - Israeli Theatre Award: best director of a new Israeli play, for "The Banality of Love" by Savyon Liebrecht; The Beit Lessin Theater.(May 14, 2010). The winners of the Israeli Theater Award have been announced. Nrg Maariv. 2019 - Ben Nahum translator's prize for Oslo by J. T. Rogers. Ben Nahum translator's prize for Oslo
Playwright 1980 - “The Sparrow”, Beit Lessin Theater. 1984 - “The Bondage”, Tsavta, Tel-Aviv.Amir Orian (May 27, 1983). Come to me, nice devil. Ha'ir. p. 37. 1987 - “Then As Death”, Acco Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre. (special prize for the best play).Haim Nagid (October 21, 1987). Acre Theatre Festival. Bamahane. p. 47. 1987 - “Around the World in 80 Days”, Tzavta.Yair Lapid (October 28, 1987). Around Tzavta in 80 Days. Bamahane. p. 25. 1991 - “Ma’ayan”, an opera (Music: Dori Parnes), Nissan Nativ Acting Studio.Tammy Lubich A directors' fantasy. Hadashot. 1994 - “Piwnica”, (The Beer Cellar), Habima Theatre.(June 15, 1994). Bama: Drama Quarterly. Vol. 136 (28). p. 102. 1996 - “My Affair with Brecht”, Haifa Theatre.“My Affair with Brecht”. Haifa University Library. 1998 - “To Be Or Not To Be”, (co-author: Roni Pinkovitch), Haifa Theatre.Moshe Ben-Shaul (April 1, 1992). Habima: Focusing on Original Plays. Maariv. p. 29. 2000 - “The Border and the Return”, Notzar Theatre, Tel-Aviv;Gad Nahshon. Notzar Theater: "The Milstein Connection". The Jewish Post. Reading during the Australian National Playwrights’ Conference, Dir.: Sue Rider, Canberra, Australia, 2001; Reading at the Act-in theatre festival in Luxembourg, November 2001. 2008 - "A Hole in the Clouds", commissioned by the "Maxim-Gorki-Theater", Berlin; Staged reading at the IsraDrama Festival.Merav Yudilovich (December 2, 2008). The “Isra-Drama” Events Are Underway. 2015 - Love Hurts; Co-Production of Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe & Beit-Lessin, Tel-Aviv. 2021 - Oedipus, after Sophocles; Notzar Theatre, Bat-Yam.Anat Zecharia (October 17, 2021). Interview: Dan Shapira Releases Oedipus. Habama. 2023 - The Peacemaker (Die Freidensstifterin); Staatstheater Kassel. (Guest performances in Berlin, Katowice, Hessian Theatre Days – Giessen).Leander F. Badura (October 17, 2023). Nahost-Konflikt auf der Bühne: Oh, Israel, oh, Palästina, vertragt euch doch!“. Der Freitag. 2024 - Shame Fall Fugue; Staged reading: Munich Kammerspiele, Munich. (Reprinted in Theater der Zeit).Schamfrist und Schamgrenzen und Schamherbstfuge. Theater der Zeit. 2025 - Dualidarity (Dualidarität); Heimathafen Berlin; (Guest performances in Berlin, Frankfurt am Main).Leonie Ettinger (April 10, 2025). Bissige Kritik an deutschen Kulturschaffenden: Dualidarität“ von Avishai Milstein. Der Freitag.
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