Oylem Goylem

Ovadia was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, in 1946 to a Jewish family who moved to Milan in Ovadia's early childhood. Here he graduated in political science and made his debut in the theatre world under Roberto Leydi, as singer and musician in the band Almanacco Popolare. In 1972, he founded a company, the Gruppo Folk Internazionale, playing mainly songs and music from the Balkans.

Ovadia's debut as a theatrical actor was in 1984. In 1990, he created the Theatre Orchestra and produced Oylem Goylem, which he successfully toured in Italy, France, Germany and USA. Oylem Goylem (Yiddish for 'The world is dumb') skillfully melded satire and klezmer music sung by Ovadia himself. In 2005, the spectacle was broadcast by RAI, Italy state TV.

In 1995, Ovadia wrote Dybbuk, about the Shoah, considered one of the most important Italian theatrical shows of the period. In the same year, he produced Taibele e il suo demone and Diario ironico dall'esilio, written with Roberto Ando. His following spectacles include Ballata di fine millennio (1996), Pallida madre, tenera sorella (1996), Il caso Kafka ('The Kafka File', 1997, with Ando), Trieste, ebrei e dintorni (1998), Mame, mamele, mamma, mama... (1998), Joss Rakover si rivolge a Dio (1999), il banchiere errante (2001), L'armata a cavallo (2003).

In 2005, he collaborated with the band Modena City Ramblers for their album Appunti partigiani.

He has been an outspoken opponent of what he regards as growing racism in Italian society. He received an award from the University of Pavia in October 2007; in his acceptance speech he denounced the treatment of immigrants, especially Roma.

In 2009, he appeared in the movie Memories of Anne Frank.

In Sept./Oct. 2003, Ovadia gave an extensive interview to Vered Zaykovsky of the Israeli cultural magazine Eretz acheret. It can be found at www.jewish-theatre.com.