Avishai Milshtein (; born 1964) is an Israeli playwright, theatre director, actor, translator, and dramaturg.
Avishai Milshtein grew up in Ramat Gan. He is the only child of two Polish-born parents who were Holocaust survivors.
He began acting in plays at the age of ten at the Eretz Oz Theater. He appeared in children's plays such as Heidi, Hannah's Sabbath Dress, Tom Sawyer, and Hasamba (playing the role of Yaron Zahavi). He also had small roles in the film Noa at 17 (directed by Isaac "Zepel" Yeshurun, 1982). He graduated from the Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts, majoring in theater (1978âÂÂ1982). 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 (1981âÂÂ1985).
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. In the Israel Defense Forces, he served as a radio operator in the Signal Corps, Central Command.
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. He studied theater, literature, and German philology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany (1986âÂÂ1990). Starting in 2003, he taught dramatic writing at the University of Hildesheim, Germany, and taught at the Berlin University of the Arts. Founder and head of the Theater Department at Alliance High School, Tel Aviv (1997âÂÂ2001).
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 (1991âÂÂ2004). 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. In 1997, Milstein directed the Israeli premiere of the classic play Penthesilea by Heinrich von Kleist, produced by the Notzar Theater. 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. He served as a dramaturg for the Habima Theatre from 1990 to 1995. 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. 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". In 2012, he performed in the play âÂÂMaxi and IâÂÂ, which was staged at the Beit Lessin Theatre. In 2023, he played in the TV series "Berlin Blues", produced by yes.
Founder and artistic director of the âÂÂCurtain Opensâ Festival for Young Israeli Playwriting at Beit Lessin Theatre since 2000, in which 300 plays were staged over its first 20 years. He initiated âÂÂIsraDrama â A Spotlight on Israeli DramaâÂÂ, 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, 2010, and 2012. In 2005, he founded the âÂÂOpening Stageâ Festival for Young Israeli Playwriting at Beit Lessin Theatre. In 2012, he founded and managed the Playwriting School of Beit Lessin Theatre in collaboration with Stage Center.
In 2007, he directed âÂÂMurderâ by Hanoch Levin as part of the F.I.N.D. Festival at the Schaubühne Theatre, Berlin. In 2008, he directed âÂÂMein Kampfâ 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. He served as co-artistic director (together with Jan Linders) of the project âÂÂFamilienbandeâ (âÂÂFamily TiesâÂÂ), a joint initiative between Beit Lessin Theatre, Tel Aviv, and the Heidelberg Municipal Theatre, Germany. The project presented six bi-national productions beginning in May 2009. Milstein directed âÂÂThe Banality of Loveâ by Savyon Liebrecht at Beit Lessin Theatre in January 2009. The production won the 2010 Israeli Theatre Award for Best Original Play of the Year. 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 âÂÂThe Merchant of Veniceâ by Shakespeare at the Theater Freiburg, Germany, with Doron Tavori in the lead role. In 2015, Beit Lessin Theatre premiered his play âÂÂDonâÂÂt Forget to Love â Love Hurts.â 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.
He is married to Marit Joffe-Milstein, a former actress. They live in Tel Aviv and have three children.
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 â the Department of Cultural and Scientific Relations of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs â in 2000; a revised edition edited by him was published in 2009.