For around two years, Neuman walked through Givatayim with a camera in hand. She documented a widowed flower seller, an aging DJ, a retired womanizer, a street cleaner and a man who had lost his memory along with his entire past. These figures are among the 99 strangers she filmed in an attempt to encounter the person she never knew: her father. Through the conversations and meetings, an entire human world opened before her, revealing loneliness, regret, love and compassion.
In “100 Men,” Neuman invites the audience into her personal journey and offers a glimpse into the world of a girl who grew up without a father figure. The stage is almost empty: only Hadas, a treadmill and a large projection screen. Neuman walks on the treadmill for around an hour, barely stopping. Behind her, the faces of the men are projected as she speaks to them, with them and to the audience. The combination of filmed documentary material and live performance creates a precise and moving experience in which absence becomes presence.
Neuman, who was evacuated from her home in southern Israel after October 7, has since moved between six apartments. The production emerged from that sense of instability. Perhaps for that reason, her search for the “100th man,” the one meant to complete the circle, feels more profound and relevant than ever.
“100 Men” moves between pain and humor, emotional drama and documentary, cinema and stage. Through a human journey of observation and searching, a deeply personal experience becomes a compelling story about connection, memory and meaning.
The performance is at HaBayit Theatre in Jaffa. Details of upcoming shows are available on Hadas Neuman’s Facebook page.
