Josef Mundy

Josef Mundy (1935-1994) was born in Bucharest, Romania, to a wealthy family. Mundy immigrated to Israel at the age of sixteen, but he nevertheless considered himself a perpetual immigrant, leaving and returning at various periods of his life. During the 1960s, he lived in France and was one of the founders of the first cafe-theater there. In 1962, several short pieces he wrote were published in the literary magazine Yochani and two of them were staged by Habimah a year later. It Turns Around, which premiered in a small basement, ran for over 1,000 performances. His controversial plays were a combination of theater of the absurd and politics, with Brechtian influences. Mundy died in New York, during the rehearsal of one of his plays at the La Mama Theater.