Yoram Falk Dies at 85 After Decades Directing Israeli Theater

Yoram Falk, the theater director and adapter whose career spanned Israeli repertory theaters and the training of actors, died on Sunday, November 1, at 85. His funeral is scheduled for Monday at Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu, where he grew up in the Beit She’an Valley. Beit Zvi, where Falk began directing and teaching in 1981, mourned a teacher who worked with generations of acting students. In its condolence statement, the school said: “We share his family’s deep sorrow.” It described nearly four decades of his directing work at the school, alongside his professional theater career. Born in 1941, Falk studied theater and English literature at Tel Aviv University before studying directing at Drama Centre London. After returning to Israel in 1976, he became resident director at Beersheba Theater, a position he held for five years. His directing credits also included the Cameri, Habima, Haifa Theater, Beit Lessin, Gesher, Khan and Yiddishpiel. Falk adapted about ten works by S. Y. Agnon for the stage, including A Simple Story, Only Yesterday and In the Prime of Her Life. His adaptation of Shira was staged at the Cameri with Ilan Dar, Levana Finkelstein and Sandra Sade. Monday’s funeral procession will leave the synagogue courtyard at Sde Eliyahu, where farewell remarks and eulogies are planned.