HALEVY, MOSHE

HALEVY, MOSHE (1895–1974), Israeli theatrical director and founder of the ohel Theater. He studied engineering in Moscow before joining the newly formed Habimah Studio as assistant director (1917). He left the company early, however, to found his own theater in Palestine and in 1925 established Ohel, a workers' theater under the auspices of the Histadrut. His first production, based on stories by I.L. Peretz , was a great success, especially in the kibbutzim which, for many years, were to provide Ohel's main audiences. In his production of Fishermen (Op Hoop van Zegen) by Heijermans, he demonstrated his belief in the theater as an instrument for social betterment. For 25 years he directed almost all Ohel's productions, but left the company after disagreements in 1951. He engaged in other ventures, among them a small traveling Moshe Halevy Theater (1960), which continued until 1967. His autobiography Darki Alei Bamot ("My Stage Career") appeared in 1954. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Tidhar, 2 (1947), 953–4. (Mendel Kohansky)