Yakish and Poopche

on programme

This performance doesn't have any called terms at the moment.

premiere

18. June 2020, SNG Nova Gorica

about text

Yakish and Poopche aren’t that much different from other people. They’re of a marriageable age, but unfortunately they’re neither beautiful nor rich – in fact, they’re terribly ugly and poor. How can these two lonely young people find their soul mate, warmth and love? There’s always a solution: using a matchmaker with a dubious reputation, for whose services their desperate parents spend their entire life savings, they come to the conclusion that life isn’t a beauty salon and that they have no other option but to give up their dream and expectations and take what’s on offer – even though it’s not the best of what there is in store in the world. So Yakish and Poopche get married. But their troubles are far from over: on their wedding night, Yakish cannot “consume” the marriage, because Poopche, ugly as a crocodile, repulses him. Now both sets of parents and the broker (who’s afraid he’ll lose on his commission) must join forces and find a way to help the newlyweds.

Yakish and Poopche is a colourful, loud and dark comedy by the internationally renowned Israeli playwright Hanoch Levin. His world is cruel, sombre and without illusion, a certain kind of hell where those entering must give up all hope. In this dramatic comedy, we can only choose between a bigger and a lesser disaster. And we can certainly remain miserable all the way until the happy ending. His characters are pathetically funny carnival masks and they make us laugh when we should really be crying. The world is equally absurd as a carnival and equally colourful. The first Slovenian production is staged by the Israeli director Yonatan Esterkin.  

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