The Bride and the Butterfly Catcher

Ghostly illusion of happiness

Directed by Yair Sherman

Costumes and stage design: Polina Adamov

Music: Avi Benjamin

Light: Nadav Barnea

Sound: Michael Vaisburd

Director assistant: Nitzan Noiman

With the participation of the Raanana Symphonette Orchestra

Mee - Efrat Ben-Tzur
Gets - Israel (Sasha) Demidov

Voices: Neta Shpigelman, Dori Parnes

Aloni, saw these prints and composed the play "The Bride and the Butterfly Hunter". It's about a runaway bride named Who (Mi) and an insurance company clerk named Getz, who once a week (Wednesdays, from four to six) hunts for butterflies in a city park, trying to catch the ghostly illusion of happiness. The drama, born from drawings, won the author a prize for "best original play" and was first staged in the theater (Beamot, 1967) - with sets and costumes by Josl Bergner.

Aloni was born in Mandate Palestine to a poor family in Florentin, a neighborhood in south Tel Aviv which later became an inspiration for his work.

Aloni fought in the 1948 War of Independence and then began publishing stories in the soldiers weekly, Bamahaneh.  He published short stories in newspapers and magazines. Aloni studied history and French culture at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and in 1957 spent a year in Paris, where he became closely acquainted with the new European theater.

In 1953, his first play, Most Cruel the King, was produced at the national Habima Theater, creating a stir amongst theatre goers. The play focuses on the figure of Jeroboam the biblical King of Israel. In 1961, Habima produced his play The Emperor’s Clothes, which established him as one of the country’s leading playwrights.

In 1963, Aloni teamed up with Yossi Banai and Avner Hezkyahu to create the Seasons Theater (Teatron Ha’Onot), for which Aloni wrote and produced the play The American Princess. From that point onward, Aloni directed all his plays. He also began writing skits for the comedy troupe Hagashash Hachiver, and produced some of their programs, such as Cinema Gashash and Cantata for Shawarma.

Aloni’s work was critically acclaimed and enjoyed a popular following. He wrote and staged 13 plays. Many of his plays involve royalty, such as The Emperor’s Clothes, The American Princess, The Bride and the Butterflies Hunter, Edi King.

Aloni published one collection of prose:  Notes of a Street Cat.

He died on 13 June 1998 in Tel Aviv.