YAGIL ELIRAZ Director
Curriculum Vitae
I'm the third generation from Holocaust survivors. My grandfather, Eliezer Rosenberger (RIP), survived Auschwitz. My Grandmother, Ruth, survived Birkenau. As a child, I grew with the Holocaust always in the background. The question of this person that inflamed with such hatred one of the most cultured nations on the globe troubled and fascinated me.
I decided to set on a journey to find the answer (if there is one) to this enigma. Eight years of my life I've invested in researching this phenomena and writing the play about the young Adolf Hitler: Who was Hitler before he came to be “Hitler”? What are the elements that built his extreme agenda and concept of life? What has led a young boy who dreams of becoming a painter, to become a politician, with an agenda that is based on such poisoning racism?
The structure of the show uses a frame story of a young, desperate, and anonymous ex-soldier, trying to prepare his speech for the admittance committee of a new small right wing political group, The German Workers Party. As he prepares for his interview, critical events of his life, his family, his ambitions, moments of crisis, and key characters he met – all reappear in his memory and in front our eyes; Fragments from his childhood, adolescence, dreams, nightmares, being homeless in Vienna, his military service, and more. All these create a collage of his emerging pathological personality. The interview, at the end of the show, goes well. He's being accepted to the seven members' esoteric party, which he will make in a few years to be the German National workers party – The Nazis.
In 2009, I was invited to direct the play at the Theater Building in Chicago. The show premiered under the name "A.H. – Before he changed our history"
Habima National Theater, Theater-Neto Festival, Tel Aviv 2005
Reviews
“The audience at Habima National Theater was mesmerized. The play touches the exposed nerves of society and a very loaded subject, but no one left the hall. The play’s power is that it doesn’t leave you indifferent or pleased […] For the first time in theater, a young man has undertaken the mission to examine the psychological and sociological motivations that created the monster”. 7 Days, Yediot Aharonot
“As Curriculum Vitae progresses into the plot, so does the admiration for the writing and directing talents of the young man who wrote, directed and stars in it […] Eliraz succeeds in the very difficult task of a one-man show – to keep the audience absorbed and interested for almost two hours!” TimeOut
“With impressive, almost virtuosic, precision, Eliraz creates a rich theatrical collage that demonstrates the personal and social circumstances that formed Hitler’s character… Curriculum Vitae is a wonderfully fascinating evening.” City Mouse Tel-Aviv
“A disturbing, unique and thought-provoking performance… No doubt that this is an impressive demonstration of Eliraz’s abilities as a director-creator.” Yediot Aharonot
Credits
Playwright, Director, and Actor: Yagil Eliraz
Set Design: Maya Gordin
Costume Design: Haya Malka Biran
Music: Iddo Aharony
Lighting Design: Yaron Abulafia
Animation: Kobi Barchad
Dramaturgy: Shay Shabtay
History Advisor: Dana Arieli-Horowitz
Painting: Anna Matyokov
Artistic Adviser: Roee Moshovitz
Public Relations: Esti Eliraz
Production Manager: Michal Raveh
With Support of: Yoram Yussifoff, Tel Aviv University – Faculty of Arts, the Theater Department; Habama Center – Ganey Tikvah