Hanna Rovina

File:Sol Hurok - Hanna Robina1954.jpg

Sol Hurok and Hana Rovina (1954)

Hanna Rovina (Template:Langx‎; 15 September 1888<ref>On the dispute over her birth date, see: Carmit Guy, Ha-malka nas‘a be-otobus. Rovina ve-"Ha-Bima", Tel Aviv: Am Oved, 1995, p. 16.</ref> – 3 February 1980), also Robina, was a Russian-Israeli actress. She is often referred to as the "First Lady of Hebrew Theatre".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Biography

Hana Rovina was born in Byerazino, in the Igumensky Uyezd of the Minsk Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Belarus),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> to David Rubin, a timber merchant and Sarah-Rivka Rubin. She had one sister, Rahel and one brother, Zvi. She trained as a kindergarten teacher at a course for Hebrew-speaking kindergarten teachers in Warsaw (prior to the First World War).<ref>Levy, Emanuel (1979). The Habima – Israel's National Theater, 1917–1977: A Study of Cultural Nationalism. New York: Columbia University Press. Template:ISBN. p. 6.</ref>

She had a daughter, Ilana, born in 1934, with the Hebrew poet Alexander Penn.<ref>Her Mother's Daughter, Haaretz</ref>

Acting career

She began her acting career at the "Hebrew Stage Theatre" of Nahum Tzemach.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> She joined Habima Theatre in 1917 just as it was being launched, and participated in its first production, a play by Yevgeny Vakhtangov. She became famous for her role as Leah'le, the young bride who is possessed by a demon in The Dybbuk by S. Ansky.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1928, Rovina and the other actors of Habima immigrated to Mandate Palestine. Habima became the flagship of the new national theatre movement, and Rovina was recognized as the movement's leading actress.<ref>Kohansky, Mendel (2007). "Hanna Rovina." Encyclopaedia Judaica. 2nd ed. New York: Macmillan Reference USA. Retrieved via Biography in Context database, 2017-03-07. "Arriving with the company in Palestine in 1928, she was soon acknowledged as the country's leading actress and henceforth her career was identified with Habimah."</ref> The image of Rovina in her role as Leah in the Moscow performance of The Dybbuk, in a white dress, with her long black braid, became an icon of the emergent Hebrew theatre.<ref name="Yerushalmi">Yerushalmi, Dorit (March 1, 2009). "Hanna Rovina". Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. Jewish Women's Archive. jwa.org. Retrieved 6 March 2017.</ref><ref>Bullock, Ken (July 2, 2009). "Habimah Resurrects 'The DybbukTemplate:'"". Berkeley Daily Planet. Retrieved 2017-03-06. "Indeed, the photograph of Rovina as Leah from the Moscow production became the icon of the Habimah—and of Jewish theater generally."</ref>

File:Hanna Rovina rooms.jpg

Rovina's dressing room at Habima Theatre

Rovina took her acting very seriously and tried to live the life of the character, as prescribed by the Stanislavski School.

Nisim Aloni wrote a play, Aunt Liza, especially for her and Rovina played the lead.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Rovina made high demands of her audience. She frequently stopped a play in the middle if she felt that the audience was not attentive enough. In one instance, she stopped the play Hannah Senesh in the middle of a scene and told the teenagers in the hall to stop eating sunflower seeds. Template:Citation needed

Awards and recognition

Rovina was awarded the Israel Prize for theatre in 1956.<ref name="Yerushalmi"/><ref name=prize>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She remained active on stage until her death, in 1980.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> She died in Ra'anana, aged 91.

Gallery

• Hanna Rovina
  Hanna Rovina
• Rovina's room in Habima theatre, Tel Aviv
  Rovina's room in Habima theatre, Tel Aviv
• Hanna Rovina in Mirele Efros costume by Yitzhak Frenkel
  Hanna Rovina in Mirele Efros costume by Yitzhak Frenkel

See also

• The Dybbuk
• Theater of Israel