Artistic Director
Playwright, Director and Dramaturge
Artistic Consultant, Director and Performer
Choreography & Co director
Responsible for External Relations & Production
Administrative Manager
Actor
Actor (2.5.1983-12.1.2020)
Actress
Actress
Actress
Actress
Yinon founded ORTO-Da Theatre Group in 1996 as the first social theatre group in Israel, he is a groundbreaking professional in his field and a social leader. Yinon works as director, artistic director of festivals, acting tutor and performer.
Date of birth: 19 July 1968.
Birthplace: Tel Aviv, Israel.
Meaning of name: The name of the Messiah’s messenger in the Yom Kippur prayer: “Yinon and Eliya I send thee”. As a verb, the meaning of the name is “Forever be remembered”.
Eye colour: Blue.
Marital status: Married to the dramaturge Yifat Tzafrir (see below), they have a daughter named Tohar.
Yinon loves: Court jesters, writing songs, reading, bringing the dead back to life, surfing and eating fish.
Yinon hates: Capitalist men, capitalist women, politicians and people who think they’re clever.
Favourite colour: Blue.
Blood type: O
Yinon believes: Human history is a film by a drunk director, a megalomaniac screenwriter and a photographer with a chronic eye infection.
Yifat co-founded ORTO-Da Theatre Group with Yinon. An exceptionally sharp thinker with an inner strength. In her writing, she creates an original language that is committed to a wise and exciting message.Yifat is a rare director and artist with a broad perception who is penetrating and all engaging.
Date of birth: 16 March 1970.
Birthplace: Kiryat Gat, Israel.
Meaning of name: The radiance of endless beauty and splendour, abundant agnificence and affability. When used as a verb, its meaning is to utter the sound of a sheep or a goat.
Eye colour: Dark Brown.
Marital status: Married and a mother to Tohar.
Yifat loves: People and the peacefulness of the morning; she loves to clean up everyone’s mess, to dive deep into the soul with great tenderness; loves bold frankness and to drive wildly through the desert; original thinkers, finding beauty, long showers and fine wine.
Yifat hates: Cooking, bureaucracy, doing the dishing and all household chores; she hates shouting, coldness and standoffish people, people who live in the past and those who patronise others, and especially coarse toilet paper.
Favourite colour: Sleepy blue.
Blood type: M&N.
A founding member of ORTO-Da Theatre Group and an exceptional life and acting tutor, Gibson is the cornerstone of the group. A poet, a creator, a charismatic actor and a philosopher.
Date of birth: 17 February 1976.
Birthplace: Tel Aviv, Israel.
Meaning of name: Gibson was one of the first ever solid-centre electric guitars (as opposed to hollow body. guitars); famously played by Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin.
Eye colour: Green.
Marital status: Married to Yifat, they have a son named Dylan, after Dylan Thomas.
Gibson loves: To give his all, to help others and to donate to every beggar he comes across, parties, playing music, rock music, pop music and coke music, a walking stick; a lover of ideology, justice, taxis, crazy adventure parks, mushrooms, white nights, cigarettes and everything alternative, hard work, rehearsal rooms, an actor-facilitator, cranes, airplanes, adrenaline, Ritalin; loves being gentle.
Gibson hates: Eating meat, being pricked by a thistle and being buried in the ground; hates male clerks, prefers female clerks; hates flip-flops, meanness, sand and food that’s bland; hates people who are constantly moaning instead of having fun; hates social injustice.
Favourite colour: Soft black.
Blood type: B&B.
Gibson believes: In reformation of the human condition.
Daniel started his training in 1985 at “Studio Magenia”, rue St Marc in Paris, and as he was a very gifted student, Daniel quickly began a professional career.
Daniel got an award at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain.
Daniel won a Golden Clown at the Clowns’ Festival in Syracuse.
Daniel has performed all over the world in places such as: Denmark, France, England and Belgium.
Cabarets in Baden-Baden, Paris, Milano.
Casino in Slovenia, Zurich and cruise lines in Costa cruise and MSC.
Daniel also appeared in several TV shows in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Chile, Denmark and Spain.
Daniel made some personal creations for big companies such as Pechiney, Alcatel and France Telecom.
Daniel is the creator of all the numbers he presents.
Micol is a producer in the arts sector.
Date of birth: 5 May 1985.
Birthplace: Milan, Italy.
Meaning of name: A small stream; it is also the lead character in the film The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Vittorio De Sica, which tells of a garden of innocence.
Eye colour: Green.
Marital status: Free as a butterfly.
Micol loves: Doing a headstand and dancing tango, playing capoeira, lemon pasta (a secret recipe), spontaneity, directness, skydiving, creativity and freedom.
Micol hates: People who patronise and lack of authenticity.
Favourite colour: Bottle green.
Blood type: MMA.
Micol believes: Man is like a good song, suddenly pops up in the world, thinks he’s a hit, runs from one brain to another with the sole purpose of being played on repeat.
As a girl in the Soviet Union, I grew up in the theater, in the “Theater on Rose Street”, that exists and thrives these days as well. At that moment when I heard about Yinon Tzafrir and ORTO-Da Theater on Sderot Ha-Shoshanim (Rose boulevard), that voice from the belly (familiar?) called me to “close the circle” and join the ORTO-Da group. And I’m really happy about that.
Date of birth: Somewhere in the Brezhnev period, when the radio played classical music and soviet radio plays from morning to evening and the television broadcast “Swan Lake” 32 times a month.
Place of birth: Chisinau. (Not only pogroms happened in this beautiful, white, immersed in the parks town, but also virtuoso klezmer music, legendary Conservatory and crowded theaters).
Meaning of name: Remember Helena from Troy? So that’s it.
Eye colour: Khaki.
Marital status: Spouse and twins – girl and boy.
Elena loves: Conversations about this and that until the wee hours, guitar sounds and ringing rolling laughter.
Elena hates: Corruption, racism and lack of imagination.
Favourite colour: Yellow.
Blood type: Balkan& Slavic cocktail.
Elena believes: In the magical power of art.
A founding member of ORTO-Da Theatre Group and an exceptional life and acting tutor, Gibson is the cornerstone of the group. A poet, a creator, a charismatic actor and a philosopher.
Date of birth: 12 December 1975.
Birthplace: London, England.
Meaning of name: Originates from the bible – Michael, father of Sethur (in Book of Numbers) and Michael, the son of Baaseiah (Book of Chronicles); he is also one of the four angels mentioned in the Shema Yisrael prayer: “In the name of God, God of Israel / By my right, is Michael and by my left, Gabriel / Before me, Uriel
and behind me, Raphael / And above my head, Shechinat El”
Eye colour: Brown.
Marital status: Single.
Mikey loves: Stories with added value, breakfasts, the desert, Prague; loves playing music and singing.
Mikey hates: Reality shows, salty fish, the current Israeli government with all its ministers and, of course, Hezi Cohen.
Favourite colour: Light blue.
Blood type: A (I reckon…)
Mikey believes: “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life” (Oscar Wilde).
Hila is an artist to her core. She acts, paints, films and directs. She is a video art and animation artist, and is responsible for the short films that sum up ORTO-Da’s various international tours.
Date of birth: 29 January 1984.
Birthplace: Ramat Gan, Israel; born as one of quadruplets.
Meaning of name: a ring of light that is formed around a holy man [halo]; a conjugation of Hila is a herb that is used in coffee and bolsters the liver [cardamon].
Eye colour: Light blue.
Marital status: Single.
Hila loves: Quality meat, observing, thinking, Argentina, photographing, massages, pamperings and the good life, refined humour, post post post modern art, diving and fish watching, indie music and public transport.
Hila hates: Negative numbers, blocked sinks, offices, normal people and old toothpastes, social networks and driving.
Favourite colour: Yellow.
Blood type: VH1.
Hila believes: It does not matter through what glasses you see the world, it’s the frame of the glasses that is always the most exciting.
Motty trained at a variety of acting school and in different methods. He does not shy away from hard work, and is a loyal friend and a true gentleman. In 2014, he was awarded a PhD in Perseverance from ORTO-Da Group.
Date of birth: 12 February 1978.
Birthplace: Haifa, Israel.
Meaning of name: A biblical character in the Bible, and one of the main heroes of the Book of Esther, who saved the Jews from extermination; in addition, it is also a solid, long pole.
Eye colour: Green.
Marital status: A sought-after bachelor.
Nimrod trained at the Nissan Nativ Acting Studio, is a Virgo and has played many roles. He does street acting, teaches theatre, works with autistic children and dreams of becoming a doctor.
Date of birth: 8 September 1986.
Birthplace: Kibbutz Kramim, Israel.
Meaning of name: A biblical figure that is mentioned at the Book of Genesis as the son of Cush. As a verb, it means “we shall rebel”.
Eye colour: Brown.
Marital status: Single.
Nimrod loves: Dancing till dawn, traveling the world, diving in the sea, raising cats and plants, reading books and writing songs.
Nimrod hates: Seeded tomatoes, oppression, occupation, lies, road accidents.
Favourite colour: Purple.
Blood type: Hot.
Nimrod believes: Human abnormality and disability is a sexy and beautiful thing.
