Zalmen or the madness of God

 

A play by Elie Wiesel

Directed by Guila Clara Kessous

Samuel Bak


Samuel Bak (Graphic Designer) was born on August 12, 1933, in Vilna, Poland, at a crucial moment in modern history. From 1940 to 1944, Vilna was under first Soviet, then German occupation. Bak's artistic talent was first recognized during an exhibition of his work in the Ghetto of Vilna

when he was nine. While both he and his mother survived, his father and four grandparents all perished at the hands of the Nazis. At the end of World War II, he and his mother fled to the Landsberg Displaced Persons Camp. Here, he was enrolled in painting lessons at

the Blocherer School, Munich. In 1948 they immigrated to the newly established state of Israel. He studied at the Bezalel Art School in Jerusalem and completed his mandatory service in the Israeli army. In 1956 he went to Paris where he continued his studies at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He received a grant from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation to pursue his studies.


In 1959, he moved to Rome where his first exhibition of abstract paintings met with considerable success. In 1961, he was invited to exhibit at the "Carnegie International" in Pittsburgh. And, in 1963 two one-man exhibitions were held at the Jerusalem and Tel Aviv Museums. It was subsequent to these exhibitions, during the years 1963-1964, that a major change in his art occurred. There was a distinct shift from abstract forms to a metaphysical figurative means of expression. Ultimately, this transformation crystallized into his present pictorial language.


In 1966 he returned to Israel. He lived in New York City (1974-1977), Paris (1980-1984), Switzerland (1984-1993), and in 1993, moved to Weston, Massachusetts.


Since 1959, Samuel Bak has had solo exhibitions at private galleries in New York, Boston, London, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Zurich, Rome and other cities around the world.


Publications on Samuel Bak’s work include 12 books, most notably a 400-page monograph entitled Between Worlds, and his touching memoir, Painted in Words. He has also been the subject of two documentary films.

 

Director

Guila Clara Kessous


Assistant Director

Kathryn Kozlark


Graphic Designer

Samuel Bak


videographer

Roberto Mighty


Dramaturge

Heather Simon


make up wig designer

Lenna Kaleva


Puppet creator and coach

Yavni Bar-Yam


Props Manager

Kaitlan Hannan


Costumes & Props

Devorah Oxman


Casting & PR

Dan Yonah Ben-Dror Marshall


Poster Designer

Zachary Bos


Composer

Edwin Geist


Photographer

Tristan Govignon

Seacia Pavao