Jerusalem Khan Theatre

The Jerusalem Khan Theatre is the only repertoire producing theatre in Jerusalem. The theatre is located near the Jerusalem Railway Station, in an old caravanserai building.

History

The Khan Theatre was opened on 26 October 1967, at the initiative of Mayor of Jerusalem, Teddy Kollek. The first artistic director was Phillip Diskin; but a year later, the theater company disbanded and the building was used for different cultural events such theater and concerts. In early 1973 a new theatre company was established. LAter artistic managers included: Michael Alfrds, Ilan Ronen, Ada Ben Nahum, Yossi Izraeli, Amit Gazit, Eran Niall and Ofira Hoenig.^[1]

Productions

The theatre produces 3-4 new shows annually. The current artistic director is Michael Gurevich, who writes and directs some of the plays. In recent years its prominent productions included: "a passing shadow" (2000), "war on Home" (2002), "The Miser" (2003), "Happiness" (2004), "Life Is a Dream (2005). Over all, the theater has about 200 performances a year in house and about 70 in other halls, mainly in the Mann Auditorium in the Jerusalem Theater complex.^[1]

The Khan Theatre is a non-profit organization. The theatre's executive committee consists of public figures and representatives of organizations that support it financially - the Jerusalem Municipality, the Jerusalem Foundation and the Ministry of Culture and Sportץ .

In 1998-2001 the Khan Theater hosted the International Festival of Chamber Music.

The Khan compound includes two halls - the main hall with 238 seats, where most of the major productions of theater are shown, and a second hall with 70 seats used for concerts and meetings.

The Theatre building

South-Western entrance of the Jerusalem Khan before reconstruction. The signboard indicates: "wood and refrigerators factory, and also electrical ones"

The theatre building was constructed during the Ottoman period as a factory for producing silk. Later it was converted to a hostel used as a nightly stopping point of pilgrim convoys, providing protection against attacks by robbers that were common in the area. The hostel served mainly Christian pilgrims on their way from Jerusalem to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and Hebron, but also Jewish pilgrims on their way from Jerusalem to Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem and the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron. Additionally, it served convoys, which arrived in Jerusalem after dark once the gates of the old city of Jerusalem were shut, which usually happened each evening at sunset, and opened the next day after sunrise.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} The Jerusalem Khan Theatre - About us, http://www.khan.co.il/about/index_english.php, retrieved 2009-11-21 

External links

• The Khan Theatre website

Coordinates: 31°46′6.70″N 35°13′28.61″E / 31.768528°N 35.2246139°E / 31.768528; 35.2246139