Since it was first published in the 1940s, translated into Hebrew by Yemima Avidar Chernovich, it has also received successful television adaptations in England and Israel.
On Saturday, July 2, the premiere of the play “Children’s Island” by the playwright Yaara Reshef Nahor and directed by Noam Shmuel will take place at the Holon Meditech Theater. The play is intended for children aged eight and up.
The story of the plot takes place during World War II when a ship carrying British children leaves the shores of England, on its way to America to bring the children to a safe shore. During the voyage the ship sinks, and six of the children who were on the ship end up on a lonely island. Here, without adult supervision, children are forced to cooperate and survive on their own. With resourcefulness and courage, they learn to obtain water and food and manage to protect themselves from wild animals and the forces of nature, along with the difficulties and disagreements that arise between them.
The children of the group go through a challenging and surviving journey of adolescence and personal development. Will they survive despite the cold and hunger? Will they learn to bridge the gaps between them and find solutions to adversity, and the question is: Will they ever be able to leave the island and return home? The scenery on stage simulates a sloping, two-level “island” with fabric ferns closing in on it from a height and giving a feeling of tangled and menacing vegetation.
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“All of us, the actors, the playwright and the director, read the book together. Of course the play is the epitome of the charming book about its exciting and layered plot. It is a story that is a short and tight adolescence journey of an amazing group of children,” says actress Adva Rodberg. “It is difficult to ignore the relevance of the story to what is happening today, and I mean the Ukrainian children who were expelled from their homeland and became homeless refugees from one day to the next.”
Actress Adva Rodberg plays the character of Diana, a 14-year-old girl from the island. “Diana is different from the rest of her friends. She is a nature girl who loves animals and gets along with them better than humans. She is vegetarian and unwilling to harm animals, even when there is no choice and they must eat meat to survive on the island. She is independent and brave with a feminist personality. “Herself, helping everyone and doing things that others do not like because she is a child. For example, she knows how to climb trees, get food and refuses to stay with the girls to prepare food. She is a nice woman. In fact, a nice girl. Cheeky to a good degree,” says Rodberg.
How did you prepare for the job?
“It’s a physically challenging job. The job requires me to run and jump and move a lot on the sloping stage. You could say I was not physically ready for the job. Rehearsals that started three months ago caught me in the middle of a long maternity leave. 10 months ago I gave birth to my eldest son, David. Slowly. “Slowly with the rehearsals, I got into crazy shape, I went from zero to a hundred.”
This is Adva Rodberg’s first children’s show in the theater. She has previously starred in children’s TV series (Nickelodeon Channel) “Disappeared” and “My Guardian Angel,” as well as “In Friends of the Enlightened” and in the adult play “Romeo and Mom” at the Cameri Theater.
“There is a significant difference in acting on TV and in the theater. On the theater stage this is a live, exciting and much more stressful show. There is also excitement during filming, and I really like to be photographed, but on stage everything happens here and now. “But since this is my first show for kids, make sure to prepare me for the possibility that it will be different. I was told that kids will respond and talk to you during the show. I’m already curious to see what it will be like,” she says.
Do you identify with the girl Diana?
“Like Diana, I also love animals. I grew up in Moshav Ramat Zvi, as a child I milked cows in our family barn, rode horses, and we also raised a lot of cats and dogs on the farm. I have outbursts of feminism like Diana, for example I can suddenly decide to renovate the house. So I plaster. “You’re whitewashing and painting, I can do everything on my own. Yes, I’m a strong woman.”
Rodberg, who has not always dreamed of becoming an actress, is a graduate of the Goodman Acting School in Be’er Sheva. “I was busy completing the matriculation and since I failed the math test I said to myself, I will go play a game where I do not need a matriculation. To be honest, it was not clear to me that I wanted to be an actress. Thing I went for it “she shares.
Adva Rodberg (Photo: Rafi Daloia)And if the name Rodberg sounds familiar to you, then yes, you are not wrong. Adva is the younger sister of actress Lake Rodberg. “Agam and I are very connected in everything and on the subject of the game. For example, when I received the offer to participate in ‘Children’s Island’ I considered responding negatively to the offer because I was on maternity leave. Agam advised me to ask the director to send me the play. Maternity leave in favor of participating in the show, “she says.
The three sisters of the Rodberg Maayan, Agam and Adva family live in the neighborhood of Tel Aviv, while the brother Peleg is a son who continues in Moshav Ramat Zvi and Raftan. “We are three sisters, Ben Porat Yosef, the best friends and related to each other. There is nothing I do and they do not know about him and vice versa. My sister Maayan and I gave birth two months apart. Lake Girl this year too. Together on maternity leave, I had to abandon it in favor of the stage. “
Do you like to talk about a lake?
“You ask if it annoys me to talk about my sister Agam? So no. I know it interests people and it’s fine with me.”
Adva Rodberg is married to Matan Bracher, their eldest son David is named after her father.
“As a new mom, it really makes me cringe to think what happens to the children who find themselves alone on the island, without an adult to help them. I don’t want to think what would have happened to my uncle, Hamsa Tap Tap, if he had gotten into such a situation.”
Aspirations and dreams for the future?
“Find David Garden in August. That’s my biggest ambition so far.”
“Children’s Island”
Holon Meditech Theater
Saturday 2.7 at 10:00
Saturday 16.7 at 10am