Israeli Stage to Celebrate 5th Anniversary Season with Make My Heart Flutter

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Despite Hanoch Levin’s international reputation as a dramatist, theater director, author, and poet, one of his later works, Make My Heart Flutter, remains somewhat of a mystery to the American public, as it was discovered after Levin’s death in 1999.

This weekend, director and Israeli Stage founder Guy Ben-Aharon will present his interpretation of the play in Boston as part of Israeli Stage’s fifth anniversary season celebration.

The story of Make My Heart Flutter plays with the idea of optimism in disaster as the main character’s love interest—cast alongside a new man each time she appears—turns to deception and dishonesty to drive the plot forward. In its dark humor and well-crafted plot line, the piece will build off Israeli Stage’s 2013 performance of Levin’s The Whore from Ohio. Make My Heart Flutter is a sardonic snapshot of love and the crippling disappointment that swiftly follows, a story sure to bring forth laughs, tears, and resounding sighs from the audience.

In short: the play is “a romantic comedy without the romance.”

“The best part of this piece is the center character. There’s a hopeless romantic in him. He keeps meeting disappointment and just keeps trying. It’s very uplifting when thinking about his perseverance in comparison to the rest of the plot line,” Ben-Aharon said.

Jeremiah Kissel, Adrianne Krstansky, Nancy Carroll, Omar Robinson, and Remo Airaldi star the play, which debuts Sunday afternoon at Goethe-Institut Boston. A private encore performance will follow in conjunction with Israeli Stage’s inaugural Sabra Award Benefit, which will honor Boston philanthropist Ted Cutler and Emerson College president Lee Pelton.

“Sabra means ‘the fruit of the cactus.’ It’s the nickname for anyone who is born in Israel. We wanted to honor people serving the community in some big way in terms of cultural bridging. Ted Cutler has done more for arts in the city than any other philanthropist, while President Lee Pelton of Emerson has shown how the arts serve the city,” Ben-Aharon said.

Israeli Stage plans to host the Sabra Awards each November to continue celebrating exceptional patrons of the arts.

Make My Heart Flutter takes place Sunday, November 2, 2 p.m. at Goethe-Institut Boston, 170 Beacon St., Boston. For tickets and more info, visit israelistage.com.