ABSTRACT
The drama Masa leninveh, clearly prompted by the famous biblical tale of Jonah and the whale, is unlikely to be listed in the effective and wise classification of biblical dramas suggested by Gershon Shaked. Yehuda Amichai's drama recovers the spiritual desolation by the overflowing presence of grotesque and sometimes alienated characters on the stage. Gidon Ofrat discovers some common elements in the poetic language used by both dramas: in the mythical narration merging into reality, in Orpheo's fall into hell and Jonahs fall into depths. In fact in the drama Orphee, the device of a horse which, beating its hoof, transmits the Morse alphabet to Orphee, is a striking expedient aimed at surprising the audience. The choice of the particular mythical area attached to the religious ceremony of Yom Kippur, which the drama analyzed here refers to, by applying Victor Turner's conclusion can be related to a wider cultural context.
