Tel Aviv (dpa) - In what is believed to be the first legal action
of its kind in the world, Israel's Haifa Theatre may be hit with a
class-action lawsuit for allowing an actress to smoke on stage as
part of her role.
The application to have the suit recognised by the court was filed
by lawyer Amos Hausner, chairman of the National Council for the
Prevention of Smoking, on behalf of a fellow lawyer, Einav Avrahami,
the Jerusalem Post daily reported Friday.
Avrahami objected to actress Orly Zilberschatz-Bania smoking on
stage for about 30 minutes during a production of David Mamet's "The
Old Neighbourhood." Zilberschatz plays the sister of the play's
protagonist, and delivers a long monologue, during which she smokes.
According to the report, Haifa Theatre has not denied any of the
allegations, but says it should be exempted from observing the
no-smoking provision due to its claim of "freedom of expression."
A Haifa Theatre official told the German Press Agency
dpa that
once it receives notification of the lawsuit, its legal
representatives will deal with it.
The play is being put on at the Haifa Municipal Theatre Hall,
which is owned by the municipality.
By law, the Haifa municipality is responsible for enforcing the
no-smoking laws in the northern Israeli city. This, argued Hausner in
his application to have the Haifa District court accept his suit, is
a conflict of interest.
He asked the court to set the compensation for the damage to the
theatre audience at 1,000 Israelis shekels (about 265 dollars) each,
or a total of 4 million shekels (1.06 million dollars), as he
calculated that some 3,800 theatre-goers have already seen the play,
or will have done so by the end of its run.
Hausner even argued that while the play presented a character as
smoking, it did not require the actor or actress to actually light up
a cigarette.
Avrahami said that when a play depicts a murder, no one is
actually killed for the sake of realism, and the play's director
could have given Zilberschatz-Banai a harmless and smokeless
substitute. However, the theatre, a small one with only 158 seats -
refused, she said, citing a letter she received.
Avrahami, described by the Post as a "frequent theatre goer," said
she was fighting for a principle, since the health of the audience -
and of the actors who performed several times a day - was at risk due
to exposure of toxins. She personally was not asking for any
financial compensation, she said.
Israel's Supreme Court awarded 1,000 shekels three years ago to a
woman exposed to smoke at a Jerusalem restaurant. Since then, higher
amounts in compensation have been handed down by the courts.
No-smoking laws in Israel ban smoking inside public places of
entertainment.
Copyright 2009 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH