Niko Nitai was an Israeli actor, theater director, and playwright, one of the most veteran theater actors in Israel, who wrote and directed numerous plays. He founded the Simta Theater in Jaffa and "Karov" Theater in Tel Aviv, which is now named after him, "Niko Nitai Theater."

Nitai was considered a trailblazer and pioneer in Israeli fringe theater. He became well-known for his appearances on the children’s TV show "Keshet Ve'Anan" in the 1980s and for his one-man show The Fall, which ran for over 45 years.

He was born in Romania, originally named Niko Jacob, and attended Jewish schools such as "Malbim" and "Cultura." His teachers included prominent figures of the Jewish elite at the time, like the writer Mihail Sebastian and the musician Haim Schwartzman. At the age of 10, he joined the children's troupe led by Lika Grinberg, which operated within the Barașeum Jewish Theater in Bucharest during the fascist-military dictatorship of Antonescu.

After the fall of the fascist regime, Nitai studied theater and film at the University of Bucharest. He first appeared at the "Constantin Nottara Theater" in his hometown. Niko immigrated to Israel in 1961 and completed his master’s degree in the theater department of Tel Aviv University.

The first play he acted in Israel was The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare at the "Haifa Theater," during its inaugural production. He later performed in many renowned plays, such as A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, Richard II, The Boys in the Band by Mart Crowley, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and more. He also performed at various theaters, including "Habima Theater," "HaOhel Theater," and "Tzavta Theater."

After a long career in institutional theaters, Nitai started working outside the mainstream theater world in the early 1980s. In 1982, he founded the Simta Theater in Jaffa, where he served as the artistic director for around 18 years. In 2001, he founded the fringe theater "Karov Theater," which operated in the Beit Merkazim building in Tel Aviv until it was destroyed by a fire. The fire in 2003 destroyed many of Nitai’s plays, costumes, posters, and archives. The theater was rebuilt in 2004 in a new space in the New Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv. Among the plays he directed and acted in at the Karov Theater were The History of Communism as Told to the Mentally Ill by Matéi Visniec and The Flies by Jean-Paul Sartre.

Since 1975, Nitai performed in his one-man show, The Fall by Albert Camus, which became the longest-running one-man show in Israel. Other solo performances by Nitai included Life Before Us by Émile Ajar, You and Me and the Illusions by Jean Cocteau and Paul Géraldy, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, L.S. Dionysus, and Longing for Windmills, written by Nitai himself.

Niko believed in maintaining a close and direct connection with the audience, creating theater that was deeply connected to the community and its needs, with a focus on activist and humanistic art.

We at the theater continue his legacy with pride.