Gesher Theatre is an Israeli theater company. In 1991, the company was founded in Tel Aviv by a group of actors from the former Soviet Union, led by Yevgeny Arye. The company stages performances in both the Russian and Hebrew languages.
Gesher Theatre was founded in Israel in 1991 with the support of several institutions and government agencies, including the Ministry of Education, the Jewish Agency, and the City of Tel Aviv. Led by director Yevgeny Aryeh, Gesher was established by a group of actors who had immigrated from the former Soviet Union. The theater is known for its bilingual performances, with the same troupe performing in both Russian and Hebrew. Although it began with a Russian-speaking cast, the majority of its productions are now staged in Hebrew. Gesher's artistic style includes traditional Russian theatrical principles.
The theater's first production was Tom StoppardâÂÂs Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, which debuted in April 1991. The play was chosen to represent Israeli theater in New York in January 1992.
In September 1992, Gesher staged MolièreâÂÂs play The Misanthrope in Hebrew at a festival in Zürich. In July 1993, Gesher was the first Israeli theater invited to the Festival d'Avignon. The theater's performance of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead at the festival was well received by French media. In 1993, Gesher was granted the status of a public theater.
In 1994, the theater staged Adam Resurrected, with themes centered on the Holocaust. The play, by , was based on the novel of the same name by Yoram Kaniuk.
In 1996, Gesher Theatre debuted Village, an original play by Yehoshua Sobol, focusing on a small settlement in modern-day Israel before the establishment of the state. In April 1997, the Gesher Theatre production Village won five Israel Theater Prizes, including Best Play, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Set Design, and Best Lighting Design.
Gesher's production of City â Odessa Stories, based on stories by Isaac Babel, was invited to the Kennedy Center in Washington and was featured during celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the State of Israel.
The theater's permanent residence, the Noga Theatre (the former Nabil Cinema, built in 1922) in Jaffa, was donated by the City of Tel Aviv-Yafo on the theater's eighth anniversary.