The Premiere of «The Comedians» in Israel

The premiere of the play «The Comedians,» directed by Hay and Ronen Davidov, took place in Petah Tikva, Israel, with resounding success. The audience showered the actors with thunderous applause, and many viewers had tears in their eyes.

A Story of Brothers, Reflecting Real Life

The play created by the Bukharian Jewish theater «Handa-Handa» is based on the play «The Sunshine Boys» by American playwright Neil Simon, a native of Brighton Beach. It was known to us even in the USSR under different names: «Sunny Boys,» «Comedians,» and «Merrymakers.»
«This is the story of two legendary comedic actors of the vaudeville era – Lewis and Clarke. In real life, they were friends, and at the same time sworn enemies. Their duo was mega-popular until one of the partners decided to retire. But fate and a tempting offer of $10,000 for a joint sketch brought the former partners together again,» says Hay Davidov.
«Old friends have to share the same stage again, but now with a bunch of accumulated grievances and claims against each other. Will the old men be able to finish their performance with dignity and not kill each other? This is the main question.»
«Hay and I completely rewrote the dialogues and the entire story, adapting it to our own, Bukharian-Jewish style. It is not the end, but the continuation of our story with my brother,» joined the conversation co-author and co-director Ronen Davidov. «That is, it’s like our personal conflict. Not of friends and colleagues in the theater, but of native brothers.


“Imagine this situation: we had a 20th anniversary (our theater was founded in 2005), and then we, brothers Hay and Ronen, quarreled and did not work together for ten years, until 2035. And now the producer (actor Alik Shimunov) asks us, for a decent sum, to perform on stage again and please the audience who missed the beloved duet.»
«That is, the basis of our play is the drama of two brothers who have not communicated with each other for ten years! They cannot forgive petty grievances that invariably accompany colleagues at work on the same stage,» continues Hay Davidov.
«But the problem is much broader: in our time, in Israel, in America, and in other countries where our fellow tribesmen live, there is an acute problem of relationships between relatives who DO NOT SPEAK TO EACH OTHER FOR YEARS! Therefore, we decided to actualize this particular moral aspect of intra-family relationships, to draw the attention of our audience to the problem that, like a virus, destroys our families and becomes a bad example for the younger generation!»
A Message of Reconciliation
«I congratulate the brave and talented actors, directors, innovators of the Bukharian Jewish theater scene, brothers Ronen and Hay Davidov, on this new work. The play reveals to us a very topical problem that has arisen today in our community or, we can say more broadly, in the modern world,» says the Chief Rabbi of the Bukharian Jewish communities of the USA and Canada, Baruch Babaev.
«Unfortunately, I often have to, together with the respected elders of our community, come to native brothers, sisters, who are at enmity and do not communicate with each other. Why don’t people understand: Ҷигар – ҷигаре, дигар – дигаре! [“Jigar – Jigare, Digar – Digare!”]
And in this case, we are not talking about the liver, but about our own blood! Brother, sister – this is your blood!»

Yom Kippur and Forgiveness

«DO YOU HAVE YOM KIPPUR, BROTHERS!?»

«It feels like every year, going to the synagogue on Yom Kippur, we ask G-d for forgiveness, but forget to settle our relationships with relatives and loved ones, to reconcile with our brother, sister, to ask for forgiveness first.»
Irina Abaeva notes in her FB post: «The uniqueness of the play lies in the fact that it covers a wide variety of aspects and situations of our Bukharian Jewish life, characteristic of both Israel and America. Here is an unwillingness to understand and accept a loved one as they are. Here is humor and tragedy, light sadness and joy, pride and arrogance, family values, society and public opinion. And most importantly, the all-consuming love of brothers for art. After the end of the play, the viewer asks himself: to be or not to be the theater Handa-Handa? The brothers Hay and Ronen Davidov so convincingly play their own confrontation, which harms both the family and the stage. So to be or not to be the theater in 2035? The viewer is confident unequivocally: to be!»
Avraham Benjamini, a big fan of the Handa-Handa theater, who has not missed a single performance in all 20 years of its existence, believes that «with such a brilliant quartet of popularly beloved actors as Hay and Ronen Davidov, Alik Shimunov and Tatiana Makhlinovsky, the theater will live and live!»

The Main Thing: Brothers, Be Friends!
– Rafael Nektalov

U.S. Premiere
The U.S. premiere of the play «The Comedians» by the Israeli theater Handa-Handa will take place in New York City on Saturday, February 15, 2025, at 8:00 PM, at Queens Theater (14 United Nations Ave S, Corona, NY 11368). There will be English subtitles.

This article originally appeared in Russian and has been translated into English.

Rafael Nektalov