Logline & Concept
A coming-of-age drama about the last summer before army service for four friends — Johnny, Erica, Iftach, and Shira. Fresh out of high school, they stand on the threshold of adulthood: ahead lie service, uncertainty, and farewells to childhood. Johnny constantly carries a video camera, filming everything — love, quarrels, fears, and dreams. But gradually the group begins to fall apart: each has their own path — one dreams of becoming a pilot, another a combat soldier, the third a singer in the army band, while the last fears being left behind. In the whirlwind of this summer, they learn the most important lesson: even when something breaks, true friendship always finds a way to come back together. The play speaks to the pressures of societal and family expectations before the draft — and the question of what the heart truly desires.
Creative Team
- Director: Amit Epstein
- Video Design: Nick Dreyden
- Theatre: Orna Porat Theatre for Children and Youth (Tel Aviv)
Premiere
September 21, 2025, Yaron Festival, Tel Aviv — official premiere of the new youth play. (The production has since entered the repertoire, performed at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.)
Visual & Multimedia Concept
Designed for the Gen-Z audience, the production gives video a pivotal role. On stage, Johnny's handheld "vlog film" is integrated into the action: a real camera streams his footage live to the backdrop screen. Audiences simultaneously see the scene as it unfolds on stage and as it is recorded in real time — a powerful metaphor of teenagers viewing their own lives as a film, highlighting the gap between expectation and reality.
Nick Dreyden's video design expanded this layer into a full multimedia language:
- Childhood memories appeared as home-video style clips and retro photo projections, evoking nostalgia with the texture of 90s VHS recordings.
- The aesthetic gave the show the pulse of a music video or TikTok feed — dynamic, fragmented, and instantly legible to young audiences.
- Subtle AI-generated graphics added a poetic closure: in the finale, Johnny's "military film" culminates as the neural network merges the friends' faces into a single shared selfie. This digital gesture becomes an emotional barometer of their journey — from separation to unity.
Reception
Seret Kayitz quickly resonated with teenagers, who called it "honest and moving." At the premiere, high schoolers from across Tel Aviv embraced their friends in tears. On social media, teens wrote: "This is literally about our summer before the draft — I couldn't believe I saw myself on stage." HaifaRu noted that the play "touches the nerve of generations caught between childhood and adulthood," and praised the visual design as "like TikTok, but in the theatre." Youth theatre critics highlighted the success of the multimedia: "The video images created by Nick Dreyden complement the live acting without overwhelming it, intensifying the emotional impact instead."
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