Wolfgang Barth [EURODRAM] conducted the interview with author Hadar Galron and translator Matthias Naumann on Saturday, 14 June 2025, at the DramatikerInnenfestival in Graz.
English version / original transcript
The questions were asked in German and English. Matthias translated the questions asked in German into Hebrew. Hadar then answered in English or Hebrew, and Matthias translated where necessary. In this version, you will find the original English parts and the German parts translated into English by Wolfgang Barth.
[Proofreading of the English version: Frank Wenzel.]
[Deutsche Version]
W. B.: Dear Hadar, dear Matthias,
First of all, a brief description of the situation. Yesterday [13 June 2025, W.B.] Israel attacked Iran, and Iran immediately responded with attacks on Israel. The airspace over Israel was closed. You don’t know how and when you can return home. How are you doing? Can you give an interview under these circumstances?
H. G.: Well, it’s something between being a VIP and a refugee. I know the feeling, unfortunately, already because I’ve been stuck in Slovakia since October 7, and it’s scary. Especially when my kids are not with me. I think, that’s the thing that has been affected the most in my personal state fromthe October 7 until now because we haven’t been in any stable situation since then. It’s my motherhood.
W. B.: Now I’d like to go straight to the play, if that’s all right, and ask some questions about it [Whistle by Hadar Galron, EURODRAM selection 2025]. There is whistling in the play. Sometimes there isn’t any whistling. When is there whistling and when not?
H. G.: Well, the whistle is very symbolic. When we hear a whistle, it reminds us maybe of the teapot that is on stage, and it reminds us of the whistling of trains. There are a lot of connotations, but in the play, the whistling is this inner place of the character, the lead character Tami. It’s her place of freedom. It’s the place where she allows herself to do what she’s not allowed to do at home. But then we understand that, two years before the time the play begins, she lost her whistle. She lost the ability to whistle, and she wants it back. So it’s a metaphorical situation. She needs to go through all the ghosts in order to ask for permission to love and to be loved so that she can love herself and whistle again. Only at the end, the very end of the play, does she actually really whistle.
W. B.: Thank you. Now, a detailed question: The play is deliberately constructed, perfectly built with images, with colours, with diverse literary references. I have a question about the colour: What does the colour yellow mean in particular? When does yellow appear? If the question is not too specific, I will have another colour question afterwards.
Interview with Hadar Galron / Matthias Naumann, June 14, 2025, Graz (Austria) weiterlesen