Conflicts and Conflagrations

Despite calles in the UK for a boycott, a theatrical exchange is going forward this coming October between Israel’s National Theatre, the Habimah (founded in Russia in 1917), and England’s Royal National Theatre (founded in London in 1963).

Staged readings, playwright visits and panels will focus on the Israeli theatrical response to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The plays cover a variety of styles and subject matters. See details here in this article from the Jerusalem Post. More info on the readings is here on the National’s website (gotta love the National’s Platform series!).

Writes the RNT about the event: “The plays represent a range of voices from two peoples caught in a bloody embrace. Common to all of them is the theme of occupation which turns both Palestinians and Israelis into its victims. Occupation becomes a metaphor for life appropriated by authority, religion, social tradition and nationalism, when personal identity is constantly under threat.”

The photo above is from one of the plays scheduled to be read – In Spitting Distance, by Taher Najib – which won first prize at the Theaternetto festival in Tel Aviv. The play tells the story of a Palestinian actor with an Israeli passport, making his way from Paris to Tel Aviv and from there to Ramallah on the first anniversary of 9/11.

• 13 08 2007 - 10:00