Hard Love, the newest production from Teatron Theatre, asks some difficult questions.
Tara Nicodemo plays Hannah and Howard Rosenstein has the role of Zvi in Teatron Theatre’s Hard Love.
“In this play, the questions that come up are loyalty to a spouse… in contrast with loyalty to God, to the divine,” says Ari Weisberg, Teatron Theatre’s founder and artistic director.
Hard Love is by Israeli playwright Motti Lerner. It tells the story of Hannah and Zvi, an Israeli couple whose marriage was short-lived, ending when Zvi left his Orthodox roots behind in Jerusalem and embraced secularism in Tel Aviv. Twenty years later they are reunited when their children from their second marriages meet and fall in love. Hannah and Zvi then realize they still have feelings for each other.
“I fell in love with this play when I saw it in New York last year,” Weisberg says. “It’s a play that is very fitting with our mandate.
“It’s very engaging,” he adds. “There is a back and forth between the philosophies of the two main characters, and it draws you in right from the start. It is well written.”
The stars of the play, Tara Nicodemo and Howard Rosenstein, bring something very special to this particular adaptation, Weisberg says.
“Our two actors starring in this play are two fantastic veteran professional actors. And what they’ve managed, with my direction, to bring out in this play is fantastic. Every rehearsal, every day we get together, we find new meanings, new twists and new angles to this beautiful play.”
Hard Love is Teatron’s second play of the season. The third play, A Hamburger in a Pita, is written by CJN columnist Nina Shenhav and runs March 2 to 13.
Hard Love runs to Jan. 16 at the Toronto Centre for the Arts. For tickets, call 416-781-5527 or visit www.teatrontheatre.com.
