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Interviews
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Miki Peleg-Rothstein Rivka Jacobson in conversation with the Israeli actress and playwright Miki Peleg-Rothstein is the mother of three young children, the eldest seven years old and the youngest a mere four months. She is warm, charming and attractive woman. In the comfort of my hotel near Tel Aviv we managed to meet briefly while her husband, himself a TV actor, looked after the children. She was born in Tel Aviv in 1969. Her theatrical career commenced at a tender age where ballet, tap dance, and music were an integral part of her childhood. At the age of 18 she joined the Israeli Army, as most Israelis. She was placed with the Air-Force and then the Navy as part of a 'Cultural Unit'. Soon after her service in the Israeli Defence Forces she attended the Beit Zvi Drama School, the equivalent of RADA in the UK. A busy stage career ensued, including playing Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew, for which she won The Shakespearian Scholarship. The birth of her second child, nearly five years ago, was a turning point in her career. She decided to 'place her truth on a page'. She wrote Pchuta which I have translated as Denuded. I asked if the play is autobiographical. She looked at me with her large doe eyes and, with some discomfort, said, "There are autobiographical elements in the play. My mother is deaf and I have a stepfather, but I accentuated many other aspects which are not part of my experience'. I sensed her raw discomfort. "Well, I reassigned my truth to the page. In the play there are autobiographical elements, dreams, nightmares, fears. and much of what is there is me." She confesses that she wrote the play for herself. "At this very moment that we are talking there is someone experiencing sexual abuse. It is there happening but we turn a blind eye. Most women are abused; the question is the degree and extent. We see it everywhere but we do not notice it. I want people to open their eyes and realise the importance of the choices we make in our lives when it come to acts that affect our children." Miki explains that Mira was a victim of a second marriage. Her mother made the choice out of economic necessities. Her deafness is not only physical it is also symbolic. Last April Pchuta was voted, at the Israeli Netto Theatre Festival, the Best Solo Play. She explains that in every part she performs, she researches and studies carefully what the character has to say and how that character conducts herself. That is combined with personal self-exploration of these elements in herself. "Whether I act a prostitute, a murderess or a hunchback, I explore and look for the relevant characteristics in my own self. It is a long process." She also sings. She is working on an album of songs by Lorca to music by the Israeli composer Yossi Ben Nun. Her dream is to combine stage acting with TV and film acting. Her powerful solo performance in Pchuta leaves little doubt that she should be given the opportunities to perform in TV dramas for the benefit of the wider public.
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