Nissim Aloni's Heroines: Defusing the Grotesque through the Theatrical in Modern Israeli Drama

This paper discusses the reemergence on the stage of strong female characters who are transformed, through modern myth-making, from their roots in ancient myths and classical archetypes into a new stage entity, in the plays of Nissim Aloni. His women are representatives of the tragic spirit in a modern world that disallows tragedy, and through his unique use of theatricality as an ironic device he empowers them to reorder their universe into a meaningful whole.