Sarit Brown stages The Last Five Years musical in Jerusalem — Jerusalem Post

In Jerusalem, Israel, director and actress Sarit Brown staged the intimate musical “The Last Five Years” at the Fringe Center of the Beit Mazia Theater. The production, previously shown at the Psik Theater’s Ma’agalim festival, is planned to run during the intermediate days of Sukkot and next week.

As The Jerusalem Post reports, Brown played Cathy, an actress trying to build a career, in the production. Her partner was Avi David-Rene Cohen, who plays Jamie, a writer whose career is developing.

A relationship story in two temporal directions

The musical was written and created by composer Jason Robert Brown after the breakdown of his own marriage. The work premiered in Chicago in 2001 and was subsequently staged repeatedly in different theaters. The musical was first presented on Broadway last year.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

The plot tells the story of the characters’ five-year relationship through songs. Jamie tells his story from the couple’s first meeting, while Cathy moves in the opposite direction — from the breakup. Their narratives converge in the wedding scene.

The production’s intimate concept

The 36-year-old Brown works as a theater educator at Psik Theater and co-founded Living Room Productions with Alexa Soleis. According to Brown, the company’s name came from the idea of performing in the intimate space of a living room, although the team ultimately received a larger stage.

The director developed the stage concept for nearly 15 years. Musical accompaniment is provided by Paul Salter, who for many years was the musical director of Encore productions. Theater director Yael Vallier called Brown’s performance as Cathy excellent and the production itself intelligent, intimate and inventive. Aviella Trapido noted the creative staging solutions, as well as Cohen’s energy and emotional depth.