The first, dated December 7, 1957, is a program for The Egg. The title page, cast listing, and introductory essays are written in both Hebrew and English.

The other program,dated December 17, 1958, is for a production of Aristophanes' Lysistrata. This production marked HaBima's fortieth season. There is both a Hebrew and an English title page, plus a summary of the play and a cast listing in both languages. There is also an essay entitled "Lysistrata in our day" which is also presented in both Hebrew and English.

Habimah (Heb.; "the Stage"), repertory theater company; founded in Moscow in 1917 as the first professional Hebrew theater in the world, and now the National Theater of Israel. Habimah first performed in 1918, presenting four one-act plays by Jewish writers. Habimah scored its greatest triumph with S. An-Ski's The Dybbuk, which was the third play it staged. Bialik translated it into Hebrew and Joel Engel composed its musical score. The Dybbuk owed its triumph to its outstanding orchestration, its forceful symbolism, and its glaring contrasts, but mainly to the boundless enthusiasm of the company in its acting and singing. Even in the mass scenes, every person on the stage gave his individual, distinct contribution; every Hasid and every beggar stood for something different, and yet together they formed a team.

In 1926 Habimah left Soviet Russia and went on a tour abroad. The Dybbuk was hailed as an unusual phenomenon. In 1927, when Habimah arrived in the United States, the company split. Zemach and several actors decided to stay in the country.

Habimah visited Palestine in 1928–29 and presented two productions, Ha-Ozar ("The Treasure") by Shalom Aleichem and Keter David ("David's Crown") by Calderon, both under the direction of the Russian Alexander Diki. It finally settled in Palestine in 1931. In the course of time it added to its repertoire a great variety of plays derived both from Jewish literature (of messianic and biblical content) and from world literature. It sought to foster dramas depicting Jewish life in the Diaspora, which it succeeded in presenting with extraordinary authenticity. Its aim was to present all phases of Jewish historical experience. For the next 17 years Habimah was under the direction of its own members. Eventually Habimah also invited foreign directors, such as Leopold Lindberg, Leopold Jessner, and Tyrone Guthrie. It was Guthrie's 1948 production of Oedipus Rex which inaugurated a new era in the life of the company.

In the period in which Habimah relied mainly on its own directors, progress was slow. Each new performance became a festive occasion and Habimah had its admirers, a Habimah "circle," and a youth studio, as well as its own periodical (Bamah); but the company failed to keep pace with the cultural and social transformation of the yishuv. It did not rid itself of expressionistic oddities, and young people, as well as immigrants from the West, kept away. It also did not absorb the young talent which was crying out for a chance to prove its mettle. The graduates of the company's school for the most part joined the Cameri, whose founding caused a crisis for Habimah.

In April 1948, Habimah went on a tour of the United States, presenting four productions (The Dybbuk, The Golem, Keter David, and Oedipus Rex). Although acclaimed by the critics, Habimah failed to attract audiences. When the company returned to Israel in July, it had nothing in its repertoire to express the heroic period of the national struggle. There was also conflict over the company's organization. For years there had been opposition to the continued existence of Habimah as a "collective," for it was argued that such a structure had become an obstacle to the company's progress because of the undue protection that it provided to members who had failed to attain the required artistic standard. This conflict was to remain unresolved for another two decades. Relief came from an unexpected quarter, the "generation of 1948." Yigal Mossinsohn's play Be-Arvot ha-Negev ("In the Negev Desert") had its premiere in February 1949 and met with an enthusiastic response. It expressed the spirit of the times, the highlights being Aharon Meskin's masterful acting and the play's portrayal of the new Israel-born generation.

In the following years Habimah enlisted directors of world renown. Under their direction, Habimah successfully mounted high-quality productions. At the same time, it continued to employ its own directors—Zevi Friedland, Israel Becker, Shimon Finkel, Shraga Friedman, and Avraham Ninio.

In 1958, on the 40th anniversary of its first performance in Moscow, Habimah was awarded the title of "National Theater of Israel."