Tov (good)
For where we come from
there is no division into Yes and No,
into is, was, and will be.
-- Czeslaw Milosz
Tov is an evening-length work for a bi-national cast of eight performers choreographed by Rosanna Gamson, inspired by Gamson’s ancestors, horse traders from Szczezin, and the story of the tarpan horse, a species bred back from the brink of extinction in 1930’s Poland. Tov is informed by Jerzy Grotowski’s seminal ensemble theater techniques and the vibrant physical theater now being created in Poland, and will be developed in both the US and Poland with artists from both countries. The work incorporates dance, and vocal music with text spoken and sung in Hebrew, Polish, English and German.
Gamson’s Polish Jewish family are descendants of Nachum ish Gamzu— a Talmudic scholar famous for his unshakeable belief that everything that happens is God’s will—and thus, good, even pain and suffering. The title “Tov” ("good" in Hebrew) comes from his catch-phrase “Gamzu l’tovah”— “This too is for the good.”
Tov braids these stories—the mystic who finds God’s hand in tragedy; the ancient horses, and the survivalist Jewish horse traders— to examine the universal themes of re-invention, regeneration and groundless optimism.
Tov premieres in the spring of 2008 at the Los Angeles Theater Center, which is also a commissioning partner.
To find out more about the project’s development in the US and Poland please contact:
Cathy Pruzan, Artist Representative4709 Paradise Dr
Tiburon, CA 94920
USA
Telephone: 415 789-5051
Email: cpruzan@aol.com