When Ran Bechor’s wife, Romy Neumark, accepted a prestigious Nieman Fellowship in Boston some two-and-a-half years ago, Bechor, an Israeli playwright, theater director and educator, hesitated a bit to make the move from Israel, where he was highly regarded in the worlds of theater and education and had many professional opportunities.
He had four plays to his credit, including one for children; ran a site-specific theater festival; had served as a principal at a school for gifted students in Jerusalem and launched a theater company for at-risk Israeli and Palestinian teens.
In 2016, his play, “Schreber,” garnered first prize at the Akko International Fringe Theatre Festival.
“When I came here, it was very clear to me that I wanted to do theater for young audiences,” Bechor told JewishBoston in a recent phone conversation. In a remarkably short amount of time, Bechor’s vision has sprung to life and will take center stage next month with “Library Lion,” a musical that will be performed at Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts (BCA) from Jan. 10-19. “Library Lion” is produced by Adam Theater, the nonprofit theater company Bechor co-founded in Boston with Karin Sharav Zalkind, an Israeli-born, internationally acclaimed designer who’s lived in Boston for some 20 years and is a council member of IAC New England. “Library Lion”—named one of Time magazine’s 100 best children’s books of all times—is based on the beloved, classic illustrated picture book by Michelle Knudsen, an award-winning Jewish American children’s writer. This unique production features a cast of five actors, three musicians and a trio of puppeteers operating a three-person lion puppet designed and built by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, the masters behind the Muppets and Sesame Street characters. The BCA staging—for ages 4-plus—is an adaptation of an earlier version that debuted last fall at the Boston Public Library, where it wowed more than 1,000 kids. “When I wrote ‘Library Lion,’ I hoped to share some of my sense of the library as a special, magical place … a place where anything might happen,” Knudsen said in a statement. “So you can imagine how much I love Adam Theater’s production of the story inside the beautiful Boston Public Library. I’m so excited for this wonderfully creative adaptation, and for new audiences to get to know Miss Merriweather, Mr. McBee, and, of course, the lion, in a whole new way through this enchanting musical.” “This partnership between Adam Theater and Boston Public Library is a natural extension of both institutions’ commitments to fostering a love of literature and arts in the City of Boston,” David Leonard, president of Boston Public Library, said in a press release. The production has the backing of CJP, the City of Boston and other groups in and out of the Jewish community. In addition to Bechor and Sharav Zalkind, Boston’s “Library Lion” boasts an array of other Israeli creatives, including new music written by Yoni Rechtor, one of Israel’s leading composers, who wrote the original score. “Library Lion” is a classic story that appeals to people of all ages. When the librarian falls and hurts her leg, the lion is eager to get her help. The only way he knows how to get attention is to let out a giant roar, a no-no at libraries, where “Quiet, please” is the No. 1 rule. The lion is asked to leave for breaking the rules and feels misunderstood and sad. When the library director regrets his decision, he sets out across the city to search for the lion and invites the lion back to the library, where all are welcome. Bechor remembers the first time he read the story to his son some seven years ago. It reminded him of one of the stories his grandmother, a Holocaust survivor, told him as a child. It was a tale she wove based on a story by Israeli writer S.Y. Agnon about a boy who doesn’t know how to read. Instead of reciting the traditional Yom Kippur prayers, he whistles and is chastised and embarrassed by the congregants. When he’s asked to leave the synagogue for breaking the rules, the rabbi seeks him out and teaches the congregation the lessons that God welcomes all voices in prayer and that there is no greater mitzvah than welcoming the stranger. The story, with universal appeal, resonates with Jewish values and echoes Hebrew culture, reflecting Adam Theater’s highest hopes, Bechor and Sharav Zalkind said. “Our mission is to bring high-quality theater that is a bridge between Hebrew and American culture for a young audience and be accessible to everyone,” Bechor said. “We were reading cultural references in the story that evolved into a wide-ranging conversation,” Sharav Zalkind recalled. “What is Hebrew culture versus Jewish culture?” they pondered. They came to appreciate that Hebrew culture doesn’t need to be in Hebrew,” she recalled. “It was a feeling of coming home—I was suddenly sitting in the cradle of my culture,” Sharav Zalkind recalled thinking. “When you’re an immigrant, you are afraid of losing that connection to your cultural home and also not having a means of creating those same references for your children. It’s something that I’ve experienced as a child of an immigrant in Israel as well,” Sharav Zalkind revealed. Having “Library Lion” presented in a major cultural venue was a priority for the co-founders because it breaks through the cultural distances between people, Sharav Zalkind said. “We believe this ‘Library Lion’ shows kids that even if you are a lion, you can be part of the community. Even if you don’t know how to read, even if you don’t know how to behave, you are part of the community,” Bechor said. “Library Lion” is playing at Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts from Jan. 10-19. 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A universal story that echoes with Jewish values
