Katz, Dikla (Israel)

Dikla Katz – playwright, screenwriter, theatre director and puppeteer – is a graduate of the Department of Film and Television at Tel-Aviv University. In 1998 she established The Key Theatre with actor Avi Zlicha, a graduate of the Department of Theatre Arts at Tel Aviv University. The combination of film and theatre led to the creation of a visual theatre that enfolds object and puppet theatre, acting, figurative theatre and in each show examines a different language to intrigue itself and the audience alike.

Treasure Island (1998 – an adaptation) is an object theatre based on R. L. Stevenson's book. The Orange Shoe (2001 – writing and directing) is an original Commedia Dell'arte play based on the traditional Italian characters and masks. The Boy Who Had No Fear (2003 – writing and directing) is a pop-up tale combining acting and puppet manipulation inspired by the Grimm Brothers. The play was published, translated to English, in a children's playwriting anthology by ASSITEJ Israel. Baron Munchausen (2006 – writing and co-directing with Avi Zlicha) is a cabaret for two actors and puppets based on G. A. Birger's book. El Bebe (2008 co-creation with Avi Zlicha, directing and original music) is a circus-like vaudeville show for two actors and sock puppets which presents an uncompromising version of Little Red Riding Hood. The Gigantic Turnip (2010 – co-creation with Avi Zlicha, writing and soundtrack design) is a toy theatre in an antique theatre box based on Aleksey Tolstoy's Russian folktale.

Throughout the years Dikla, within The Key Theatre, collaborated in various artistic projects, with the Israeli Chamber Orchestra, the Renaissance festival, Haifa festival, the National Maritime Museum, the Tel-Aviv Museum of Art and many more.

These days Dikla is juggling writing and directing Chelm, a Jewish fantasy for four actors, puppets and toy-klezmer music, and writing her first feature film Ilanot – a dark thriller supported by the new Israeli film fund (NFCT).