Jonah Wallach’s Forgotten Plays

The following comedic-tragic scene is taken from the first play in the trilogy, written in 1967 and tells the story of the acquaintance of the couple Jonah Wallach and Tadeusz S. two years earlier. Today we would call the relationship revealed in the play “Abusive”. S. beat Wallach, imprisoned her in her room and isolated her from her circle of friends.

According to Carmeli, “they were two lost, wild and dodgy young people, in a conservative, small and anxious Israel. Wallach (in the play ‘Hani’) was 21 years old and Tadeusz (‘Costa’) was only 20 years old. “A genius. She was expected to be a teacher or a clerk, and the main thing: mother. They rebel against their destiny: he is stealing and she is in a dream, and they are both together in literature, in cannabis, in sex.”

In the next scene, Costa tries to prove to Hani that she was raped, that she did not want the boys she slept with. When she returns the question to Costa, he weakly replies: “I also barely did for myself. They always wanted me to.” Many years later, Jonah Wallach will use this sentence to write one of her most beautiful poems, “Do Not Act Like a Part.” The song, which will be published a week after her death in 1985, ends with the lines, “soil married woman / pop and Ama and Ildm lamb / then Gdl and Cbsh / Hh Hh H / Tmid Asiti What’s Srtzo Mmni / Tmid Hiiti Sict / substance minor / Tmid Hiiti timber / That someone hides in his shadow / gives of its fruit / enough. “

He: How was the first time? She: I do not remember. He: You want to tell me you do not remember what the first time was like? she does not. I had two. I do not remember. He: You do not remember anything either. How can you not remember? you are funny. Every girl remembers the first time. Every guy. It is said that the first time is not forgotten. She: I do not remember. really. I had two, one I liked and the other did not. He: Getting into the habit. She: I got into the habit, yes. He: How was it, who did you love, both of them? she does not. One I liked, the other I did not. He: What happened, you were raped? she does not. When I was little someone tried to rape me in the field, but I ran away. He: How can that be. After all, a girl who does not remember the first time. she does not know. Do not remember. He: Didn’t it hurt you? It hurts. She: At first, when we were cuddling and he didn’t really come in. By. It hurt. Sweet pain. He: And you slept with him for the first time without feeling? she does not. What is it to lie down without feeling, how can there be such a thing … he: did not lie down without feeling? After all, you would not cum at all. She: That’s right. I just lay there. But then … he: And you slept with him without feeling? She: No, I loved him and then he disappeared. He: Did he not like you? Why, what did you do to him? She: My heart is broken. This pain, I was with such pain. He: So he did not sleep with you. She: Yes, maybe not. He: So who does, the other? She: Can’t remember what happened after that. He: The other? She: The other was a friend. I was only attracted to him once. There was no such thing in him. The traffic is something. Was also too heavy. A little oil. He: And when you’re drawn to him then once, maybe then? She: I do not remember. I forgot at all, was not interesting. He: Why is it that you left you? She: I wrote my name, Hani Moloy, with his last name. When I came to look for him, his brother told me he was ashamed, that he was a little boy. My heart was broken. I lay on the grass. I could not move. He: So maybe when you wrote his name with yours … She: No, we did not lie. He: So this is the second one.

She: I do not remember the first time. He: What would you do? She: I would do it with my hands, it was really disgusting. He: Why did you do that? (She rubs her head, temple, in her hand) He: Does your head hurt? She: No (painful, trying to remember, focused) He: You just did it by hand? How did you start lying down? She: I do not remember. He: You did not like him, you would not just lie down. She: He once asked me. He: (amused) If you remember the first time? she Yes. He: What did you say? She: No.

He: (laughs) What did he say? She: Do you remember the first time? He: (laughs at his seat) What did you say? She: No. He: With me you remember. She: (smiles) Yes. He: What did he say? She: Do you remember there was a lot of blood? He: What did you say? She: (unpleasantly) Yes. I thought it was menstruation. He: You thought it was menstruation. she Yes. I had a terrible headache. He: So? She: Yes, something terrible. He: (in a flash) He raped you. She: I … He: He raped you this bastard. (She looks)

He: Was he bigger than you? She: Yes, in two years maybe. He: Oh well. It’s all clear. He raped you. So. She: I wanted to, it was the first time I liked him. He returned from the army and was so thin. The first time he was beautiful to me, and I was alone with a friend and ran away, I was ashamed, he kept writing from the army that he wanted to marry me. I was ashamed, and he came across and wanted to talk to me, and touch me, I felt. I was terribly ashamed and ran home, and he came, and I waited for him, I put on such a robe. Winter a bit. He: You were waiting for him wearing a robe. You wanted to. She: I did not think far. He: A boring guy. she Yes. Such beautification. Everyone wanted him I did not. he does? She: They wanted us to get married. He: Did a lot of blood fall? She: Didn’t stop. Probably a few days. He: You got out of it. I love you. She: What? He: You’re the kind of girl who when you tell them I love you you ask what? (She looks)

He: You always have headaches when you lie down. She: There were none. He: because it was just, when it has meaning – she: I did not think of myself, I did good – he: stupid bastard. Not romantic – she: he sat me on it. He: Poses, a guy looking for poses. She: I … he: I would have killed him. She: I … he: he licked, sucked, did something? She: I told him about the other. He: That’s how it is. and later? She: I do not remember. He: No wonder. Have you never talked about it? What a close connection. Without speaking, without gifts, without sensuality, without pain. She: There is nothing to remember, I asked him once and he says it was then and abortions, just a headache. He: Exactly what it is, a headache. (Jumps) Abortions? Some? She: How many. He: What is it? Is that how they protected you? She: Who will save. He: You can not blame yourself, you were a girl. She: I was born with a stomach and children. What a girl, I was not a girl. He: You do for yourself. You fuck for yourself not for anyone, not when he wants to get you pregnant. She: What a pregnancy, it does not look like that either. How are you? He: I also barely did for myself. They always wanted me out. She: Have you been raped? He: You could say, yes. She: Who? He: An older woman with children. I would come when the children were not. I was scared to death. From her husband. I would come and help her feed the children, no, the cats. She had about a hundred cats. In the end I stopped coming out of fear. Each time it gets worse. I thought I had to. (He approaches her) He: How many have you had since? She: Maybe sixty. He: (frightened screams, grabs her by the chest) I’m innocent. When I touch you I think I’m the first. She: In this matter I too do not have so much memory. What a fog, a blur. He: Do you remember what everyone’s name is? she Yes. He: It’s very nice that you remember what they’re called. Both of us were not spared. She: (cries a little.) He: (comforts her) You will always have a home with me.

“Monument to Leprosy – All the Plays” by Jonah Wallach