Shlomo Moskovich

Shlomi Moskovitz grew up in Rehovot, in a house enriched by literature and music, his parents used to frequently take their children to the theater, opera and concerts. His parents immigrated from Romania to Israel and were members of the communist political party. His mother, Varda, worked up to her retirement, as a biochemist in an HMO laboratory. His father, Reuven, was a history teacher, who stopped teaching at some point and became one of the founders of Neve Shalom, a cooperative village near Latrun. He was involved with the relationship between Jews and Arabs. Moskovitz Was the secretary for The Peace and Security Movement after the Six-Day War. His older sister – Smadar Imor, manages the "Synapsa" school – a choreography developed by her, combining voice and movement.

In 1987 Moskovitz graduated from Tel-Aviv University, majoring in acting and directing. After finishing his studies, he directed these plays: “The terrible days for Boaz” (Acres festival, 1986) "Louis" (Hasimta Theater), "Four Cups of Tea and Half a Cup of Water" (Hasimta theater, 1990), "Insomnia" (first place in the Israel Festival, 1990), "Women at Night" (Acres festival and the Kibbutzim College). In the years 1988–1991 Moskovich taught acting in the "Thelma Yellin" school.

In 1991 Shlomo wrote his first play "A Jump Abroad", which was directed by Dedi Baron and presented over 600 times around Israel. In 1993 he wrote his second play "Motorcycle Trip", also directed by Dedi Baron, which was a success. At the time he started writing with Gil Kopatch. They wrote many episodes for the "Zehu ze!" show together, including "The Pole is Ours" column, starring Shlomo Bar-Aba and Moni Moshonov. The column is about two childhood friends named Yona and Berger who are trying to break the Guinness Record for the longest stay at the North pole, while living in an igloo.

In the early 90's Moskovitz has created, together with the conductor Ronny Porat, a series of family concerts turned into plays, including: “Wolfgang Pops By”, a show performing over 20 years, and around 1,500 times, with different orchestras (The Philharmonic Orchestra, HaBama Orchestra, Raanana Symphonette Orchestra, and more).

In 1996 Shlomo Moskovitz wrote the "Shut Up Show" sitcom, with Gil Kopatch. The show was aired for two seasons on the HOT Channel 3. Later Moskovitz wrote "Gil Kopatch’s Weekly Torah Portion" in association with Dov Elbaum, about different interpretations to the Judaism origins. At the time he also wrote the satiric play "An Integral Part", together with Gil Kopatch; the play was produced at the Yoram Levinstein's studio and continued to run as a private production. Following an invitation from director Dedi Baron, Moskovitz wrote arrangements for "Luna" and "They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?" which were both produced in Yoram Levinstein's studio (in the years 1999 and 2001, respectively). In 2013"They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?" was played again in the Cameri Theater, directed by Baron.

Since 2000 Moskovitz writes, translates and is a dramaturge for Habima. Since 2001 and to this day he has translated dozens of plays for the repertory theater in Israel (Habima, Beit Lessin Theatre, The Cameri, Beersheba Theatre).

In 2004 he founded "Revadim" – a "Beth midrash" for writing.

Moskovitz studied auto-racing in Europe and was a test driver for car magazines. He was a writer and editor for the "Auto" magazine during the years 1990–1994, and for the "Steering Wheel" magazine from 1998 and until 2005. At that time, he continued to excel in auto-racing in different schools across Europe.

In 2003, his play "Week", started playing at Habima, directed by Dedi Baron. In 2004 Moskovitz received the Nisim Aloni Original Play Award for this play (From the judges’ decision: “”Week” – one of the most shining and moving pearls in the crown of Israeli drama”). This play has also rewarded him with the Ora Goldenberg's award the same year. Shay Bar-Yaakov described the play in Yedioth Ahronoth as an "artistic miracle".[1] The "Week" play represented Israel at the Mediterranea Festival in Milano. Dedi Baron received several awards for the directing work on this play, including a commendation from "Piccolo" theater in Milan.

A short play by Moskovitz was arranged to "Revenge", a final work by Yoav Cohen for the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School and won first prize in the Soorya Festival in Spain, and also a IDB prize from the Sam Spiegel School.

In 2010, Moskovitz's play, called "A Star will Shine" has debuted in the national theater Habima, also directed by Dedi Baron, receiving praises from the critiques. In 2010, his musical "Sigal" has debuted in Yoram Levinstein's Performing Arts Studio. The play continued to run in the Habima Theatre, directed by Tzadi Tzarfati.

In 2014 Moskovitz worked on the "A Tasting Meal" play, which was produced by the Cameri Theater. The plot takes place one night, when a daughter of left-winged parents brins home a boyfriend from an Israeli settlement, whom she plans to marry.

In 2016 "A Tasting Meal" started to run in the Cameri theatre and quickly became a bestseller (over 300 plays) (Director: Dedi Baron).

In 2017 the “Simply to Love” musical started playing in Cameri theatre (Director: Dedi Baron).

In 2016 Shlomo's play “Ten Commandments” began playing in Kiel town theatre. The play was chosen by the "Theater der Zeit" magazine as one of the ten best-translated plays presented in Germany that year.

In 2021, Shlomo's play "Blood on Hands" was played in Salzburg State Theatre (Director: Dedi Baron).

All of Shlomo Moskovitz's plays are available for reading at the Israeli Dramatists website. Shlomi Moskovitz lives in a domestic partnership with the director Dedi Baron, who has directed most of the plays written by him, and some of the plays arranged by him. They raised four daughters: one common daughter, Omer Moskovitz – musician, singer-songwriter, and three daughters from Baron's previous marriage: Michal Blankstein, the eldest and Tal Blankstein – both are actresses in the Cameri theatre, and Dana Blankstein-Cohen is a television and film director.

• 1990 – first place in the Israeli festival for the play "Insomnia", directed by Shlomi Moskovich himself.
• 2004 – Nisim Aloni's award for the original play "Week”
• 2004 – Ora Goldenberg's award for the play "Week”
• 2004 – Commendation from the Mediterranean festival, "Piccolo" theatre, Milano, for the play "Week”
• 2007 – Keren Rabinovich's award for translating plays, in memory of Ada Ben-Nachum, for he's translation of the play "The History Boys" by Alan Bennett[2]
• 2012 – Keren Rabinovich Fund award for translations of plays in memory of Ada Ben-Nachum, for his translation of the play "33 Variations" by Moisés Kaufman

1. Shay Bar-Yaakov, "Between Heaven and Hell", Yedioth Ahronot, May 18, 2003. 2. Tsipi Shokhat, Shlomo Moskovitz received the Rabinovitch Foundation Award for Translation of Plays, August 1, 2012.