A Tel Aviv Fantasy Based on the Book by Yaakov Shabtai
Uncle Peretz Takes Off is Yaakov Shabtai’s best-known collection of short stories.
Through a series of funny and moving stories, Shabtai evokes the Tel Aviv of his childhood in the 1930s: a small city of legends, love affairs, the sea, and new immigrants from every corner of the world.
The stage adaptation draws on two central stories, “Uncle Peretz Takes Off” and “A Marriage Proposal.”
The first tells of the heartbreak of a man torn between his wife and his lover; the second, of a marriage proposal late in life.
At the heart of both stories are two characters: the narrator’s grandmother (played by Lia Koenig) and his uncle.
Together, they teach those around them – and discover for themselves – that love can appear at any age. They raise questions about the Israeli family that remain as relevant as ever. Above all, they fill the stage with a longing to rise above a drab reality – to reach higher, to take off and fly.
