By Simon Griver
Israeli football coach Avram Grant might be tipped for a return to the Premier League, but his actress wife could be back before him. Tzofit Grant has written her first play — in English — and is in negotiations to stage it in London this year.
She said: “The play is based on the world of oligarchs in London that I saw in the year Avram was at Chelsea. It is about women, money and power. It touches on the women who surround men who seem to control half of the world.”
However, she insists, none of the characters are based on Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
“Of course, I met all the people who inhabit Abramovich’s world, from the drivers and servants to his close aides, and that has given me the material for the play. There are rich, powerful men in the play, but ultimately the drama is about the women in that world.”
Tzofit, 44, is one of Israel's leading actresses and says that she wants to play the lead role in her drama — and an English-speaking part would be a first for her.
She is also famous in Israel for hosting her own TV chat show. In one episode she caused a sensation by drinking her own urine.
Since returning there with her two teenage children, after Grant was fired by Chelsea last May, she has been starring as a tough television news journalist in a popular Israel soap called Scoops.
She is reluctant to give away too many details about the plot of her new play and is even coy about revealing its name.
“If it gets on to the stage I am certain that it will make a huge buzz. It is about a London social scene that people know very little about.
“The negotiations to put it on the stage in London are very complex. But if it is going to happen, it will have to happen within the coming year.”
She says that her husband retains a special friendship with Abramovich but she was very disappointed in the way the Russian behaved.
“He made a critical mistake in firing Avram. I was disappointed with Abramovich as a friend, as a human being, as a Jew and as a football club owner,” she said.