Eliya Rodeh Interview by Jen Bush
Eliya Rodeh is a NYC based actress and singer hailing from Israel. Her artistic journey began at the tender age of eight where she was singing an acting in her home country and internationally. She studied the arts on two continents and completed the prestigious program at the Stella Adler Conservatory. Ms. Rodeh and her artistic colleague, Maera Daniel Hagage are founding members of Dirty Laundry Theatre, a theatre production company that seeks to share cross cultural human stories. Ms. Rodeh was gracious enough to share some time with us to discuss the exciting projects that she is involved with.
Light Heart Heavyis a new theatrical work which is a composite of aspects of the lives of Ms. Rodeh and her collaborator, Meara Daniel Hagage. Both artists felt vulnerable working on and in this production. “I completely agree with my artistic colleague Meara. This is the first time that I’m doing something this personal and exposed, so a lot of emotions are involved. Pain is definitely there, as well as fear and hesitation. But there’s also love, joy, excitement, curiosity, and so much more. It’s a wild journey and I’m grateful to take it. Also, as Maera mentioned, while the play is based on true stories, it has “a life of its own”, and it’s been an interesting process to let go of my personal little details and focus on the universal story.”
The impetus for creating this work was personal. “I started thinking about this piece a few years ago. I wanted to dig into other perspectives of the story, especially my mom’s. I wanted to make sense of things and find some answers. Other than my own personal side of this, I also think that this is a story worth telling. It challenges the typical narratives about “the other woman” by showing that she is human just like the rest of us.”
Doing this project caused Ms. Rodeh to reflect upon her life and the experience evoked some feelings that reach back into her past. “I don’t know if the word “catharsis” is the right word to describe it. I’d say that I feel more acceptance and forgiveness towards the little girl that I was.”
Ms. Rodeh and Ms. Hagage are involved in some very interesting artistic endeavors. They will all eventually be turned into complete individual productions. “Through Our Eyes: A Collection of Multi-Cultural Points of view, is an evening of new works in poetry, theatre, and music. It is produced by Virago Ensemble, an inclusive multinational group of performers and theatre creators, striving to celebrate and honor diverse cultural backgrounds, by sharing diverse narratives and empowering less-heard points of view. The works presented in this evening are snippets from shows in development. We’re planning on keeping developing the shows to full staged productions.”
The pieces are all tied together by the personal journeys of each artist. “All of the pieces in this evening are original works in development, with strong points of view. They’re inspired by the lives of the creators, whether it’s their experiences during COVID, their upbringing, or anecdotes from their current life. This evening will be one of the first times that this material is presented in front of an audience. We’re very excited about that!”
Disney’s “Small World” definitely comes to mind with this show. “Our cast is built of multinational performers. We grew up outside the US, and are singing in our native languages, which is how we encountered Disney for the first time. Each of us chose our own material, based on our personal preferences and what we feel most connected to.”
Ms. Rodeh and Ms. Hagage had to do a lot of work for the productions they are involved in. Thankfully, translating into different languages was not one of them. “We didn’t do any translations for this evening. The Disney movies were professionally translated and dubbed into more than 40 languages. So we just went back to the versions we knew as kids. In our research for this evening we learned that what Disney actually did was not only translation of the movies, but Localization. That means that they adapted the translations and messages to local audiences. It’s a very interesting process to learn about the differences and similarities between the translations and what they mean about the differences and similarities between different cultures. We’ll include some of the most interesting anecdotes in our event in April.”
Disney is ageless and always retains its magic though the meaning of some things may change from a child’s perspective to an adult’s. “Going back to these materials as adults is still magical, which is a part of the Disney charm. But there are definitely some “adult moments” that went over our heads when we watched it as kids. There are also more layers to the meaning now, since our point of view has changed. We’re having a lot of fun exploring all of that! :)”
ARTIUM: OMNI 