Stage Front
A journey of healing through theater and rehabilitation for artist-soldiers
A creation incubator and rehabilitation program for professional artists returning from the front — combining theatrical work with emotional support, and giving creators back sovereignty over their own story.
Two days after opening night in a lead role, Aviv — a young actor at Mikro Theater — was called up for reserve duty in the south and wounded in combat. After a successful physical recovery, we reached out for him to return to the show. He refused. Not for lack of love for the craft, but because he couldn't picture the transition from the trenches to the stage — from a world where emotion is a danger, to a world where emotion is everything.
Aviv's story isn't unusual. Out of this fracture, Stage Front was born — a rehabilitation and renewal program for artist-soldiers seeking to return to the stage, and to themselves.
Small groups of up to eight participants meet once a week for four months. Two parallel tracks: artistic work — movement, voice, improvisation, and acting — alongside group and individual therapeutic support. At the end of the process, the group stages an original piece based on their experiences.
The first cohort (2025) produced three works:
"Loss of Experiences" — testimonial theater and a comic cabaret about the experience of reserve duty.
"This Is Where We Live" — immersive theater that puts the audience in a combat outpost.
"End of Rooster" — a combat musical about the experience of the war in Gaza, currently touring the country.
"For two whole years I didn't perform, all my projects were put on hold. Stage Front was a breath of fresh air for me. I finally met people in a similar situation, who understood the complexity of jumping between the worlds of creation and war. For me it was a process of revival and healing."
— Ran Zingboim, graduate of Nissan Nativ Jerusalem and a fighter in the Yahalom unit
The program is dedicated to the memory of Ayala Cohen z"l, who in her life believed in the power of listening, giving, and hope — and in people who exist outside conventional frameworks.
In Memory of Ayala Cohen
Ayala Cohen z"l, 59 at the time of her passing, was the board secretary of KKL-JNF (Jewish National Fund), a mother of four, a grandmother of four, and a woman who filled her world with a smile, compassion, and unconditional love. Her presence was rare — a combination of calm, inner light, and a deep faith that everything happens for the best, even in hard times.
Ayala devoted herself to others, choosing to see the good and the potential in every person. With her broad heart she fought for a young man with a psychiatric disability whom no employer would take on — and she fought stubbornly on his behalf until he was placed in a job with the KKL-JNF forestry service, work he continues to this day.
Though she was never involved in theater, the healing project that carries her name reflects exactly who she was: someone who believed in the power of listening, giving, hope, and healing. Her training in NLP became a tool she never had to strain to use — she simply lived it, day by day, in the warmth she radiated and the wide smile she gave everyone she met.
In her life, as in memory, Ayala continues to light the way for others.
Shows From the Program
Register for the Next Cohort
A professional artist and a reserve duty veteran? We'd love to hear from you.
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