Theater
Salt of the Earth
PuppetCinema/HaZira Performance Art Arena
Zvi Sahar
A thousand pounds of salt become a punishing Middle Eastern desert, plastic tanks barrel down paper streets, and a faceless, nameless puppet[1] emerges a rebel hero in this work by artist Zvi Sahar.
Puppetry and hand-painted miniature sets combine with live filmmaking and projected video feeds, as a Lilliputian universe is created and destroyed before our eyes. In Salt of the Earth, inspired by the bestselling Israeli novel The Road to Ein Harod by Amos Kenan, Sahar and PuppetCinema show us a dystopic world, in which our protagonist—fleeing his country’s latest military coup—discovers the meaning of perseverance, survival, and ultimately, freedom.
Dramaturgy by Oded Littman
Design & Cinematography by Aya Zaiger
Music by Gai Sherf & Rona Kenan
Lighting design by Adi Shimrony
Participants learn the basic mechanics of film, puppetry, and object theater with Zvi Sahar and Leslie Strongwater from PuppetCinema.
Zvi Sahar is an actor, director, and puppeteer and the artistic director of PuppetCinema.
We hope this study guide will enrich a study of Salt of the Earth.