This book examines the effects of Modernism on the human soul and how they are expressed in the theater in the years 1850-1950. Plays are analyzed in a historical, cultural and social context in that time. Abandoning hope of salvation from religion and pining for social justice, sobered rationality and the realization of personal hopes and dreams.

Can the production of foreign plays become relevant to a local audience? What is the extent of the playwright's influence on the stage directors? How does the social and cultural climate in Israel influence local productions of foreign plays? In Between Playwright and Director: A Dialogue the Israeli reader will find answers to all these questions and many more. Through the analysis of the Greek tragedies and the plays of Shakespeare, Ibsen, Lorca, Brecht, Beckett and Ionesco and their numerous stage realizations in Israeli public theatres since 1973 up to the present, Bilha Blum depicts the fascinating cultural encounter between the foreign and the local, so typical of the Israeli national identity. By tracing the imaginary dialogue between playwrights and directors, the book succeeds in vivifying the unique artistic language that our most accomplished directors used in staging the plays. It delves into their sources of inspiration and creative processes thus supplying its readers with the key to the mystery surrounding the classics' immortality and their interpretations. Between Playwright and Director: A Dialogue deals with social and cultural issues concerning both classic plays and Israeli performances that have never been raised before. Bilha Blum's work makes an important contribution to the study of the modern Israeli theatre.