Theater Director and Creator
Ilil Lev Kenaan is a theatre director and interdisciplinary creator currently based in Europe. She was born in 1994 in New Haven, Connecticut and raised in Tel Aviv.
Her work explores the relationship between political reality and everyday life, engaging with questions of resistance, memory and the role of art in times of crisis.
Her projects are developed through long-term artistic research and ensemble-based processes, combining her original writing and music compositions with canonical texts and documentary materials. She holds a B.A. in Philosophy and Theatre and an MFA in Theatre Directing from Tel Aviv University.
Theatre Projects
2024, Not in Our School
An original documentary created and directed for MOMENTO at the Tmuna Festival.
2024, It’s Always the Fear
A stage adaptation by Ilil Lev Kenaan and Yair Segal, based on three stories by Stefan Zweig,
produced at Nissan Nativ Acting Studio.
2024, HOMEWORK
Directed for Uri Agnon’s musical performance project,
presented at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.
2024, Electra by Euripides
A contemporary staging produced at Tel Aviv University Theater.
2023, The Constitution, Law and Justice Committee
A documentary theatre project developed through archival research,
testimony and live reading, presented with the New Generation Group at The Cameri Theater
of Tel Aviv.
2022, Blood Wedding by Federico García Lorca
Directed with original music composed for the production at Nissan Nativ Acting Studio Tel Aviv.
2022, Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov
A stage adaptation produced at Tel Aviv University Theater.
2021, Before Whom to Bow Down?
A devised performance presented at the Acco Festival for Alternative Theatre,
awarded an honorable mention for the use of theatre as a space of resistance.
2021, The Claim of Don Quixote (Arabic Version)
Directed for Alhaneen Theater in Nazareth, based on Gilad Evron’s play.
2021, Iphigenia in Aulis by Euripides
Directed with original music composed for the production at The Goodman Acting School
of the Negev.
2020, Tonight I Dreamt of Mr. Prime Minister
A conceptual monodrama performance presented at the Theatronetto Festival.
2019, Oedipus Rex by Sophocles
A contemporary adaptation combining directing and original musical composition,
created as the final project for the MFA Directing Program at Tel Aviv University.
2019, The Claim of Don Quixote by Gilad Evron
A performance and exhibition work presented as part of “DefenseLines” at the Genia
Schreiber University Art Gallery and at Tel Aviv Museum of Art.
2017, Elifelet: A Ritual Play for Hero and Chorus
An original ritual-based performance created for the Tmuna Theatre Fringe Festival.
2016, Word Problems
Directed for Uri Agnon’s Opera, presented in Tel Aviv Museum of Art.
2015, Jael and Sisera: A Contemporary Adaptation of a Biblical Tale
Directed for the 13th Small-Stage Festival at Tel Aviv University,
where the production received awards for Best Director, Best Actress and Best Actors.
2014, Shelter #02
An original performance work presented at the Acco Festival for Alternative Theatre,
awarded prizes for Best Director, Best Ensemble and Best Supporting Actor.
Music / Installation / Performance
2026, We Are the Day After – The Joint Memorial Day Ceremony
Artistic direction for the Israeli–Palestinian Memorial Ceremony
by Combatants for Peace and The Parents Circle – Families Forum (PCFF).
2026, The Carnival of the Animals
A musical puppet performance created with Gony Paz and Yair Segal.
Presented at ART SHELTER Festival, Aegina, Greece.
2023, Skin for the Gentiles
Original music composed for Matan Amsalem and Yossi Tsabari’s Musical.
Winner of the Music Composer Award at the Acco Festival for Alternative Theatre.
2018, Happy Birthday
An installation created with Tseela Greenberg for the Tel Aviv Art Festival.
2018, Hey, I’m Not a Dreamer
An installation exploring displacement and belonging,
presented as part of the exhibition “Unheimlich” at Alte Handelsschule, Leipzig.
2018–2019, Kind Of
Performed in Ofira Henig’s international collaboration with Schaubühne Berlin.
2014–2015, Raful and the Sea
Performed in Yonathan Levy’s stage work with original music by Noam Inbar,
presented at Hazira Performance Art Arena.
2012–2013, Somewhere
Vocalist and performer in Ido Berger’s electronic ensemble project.