We need to talk. One tends to cringe internally when hearing those four words – it almost always means that someone is about to tell us something that we don’t want to hear. But we do need to talk, and perhaps even more important – we need to listen.
The Cameri Theatre is currently hosting The Human Scale, a production of the Public Theater and 3-Legged Dog, written and performed by Lawrence Wright, directed by Oskar Eustis. This 90 minute performance is perhaps closer to a university seminar: books and folders stacked high on a wide wood desk that rests on a carpet, Wright, casually clad in khakis, speaks directly to the audience recounting years of Israeli and Palestinian history and his perspective on the situation in Gaza. Throughout the performance photographs and video sequences are displayed on white rectangles of different sizes arranged against the black background in an abstract design.
From an Israeli perspective – much of what Wright conveys is familiar information, yet filtered through a different perspective, one that we would do well to know: Wright is an experienced journalist, a staff writer for the New Yorker whose book The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (Knopf 2006) won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.
Last night’s performance was a meeting of theatre and democracy, co-sponsored by the Cameri Theatre and the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI). A panel discussion followed the performance, led by IDI President, Dr. Arye Carmon. Participating in the panel were: Lawrence Wright, director Oskar Eustis, Prof. Yuval Shany, IDI Senior Fellow and head of IDI’s Terrorism and Democracy project and Shaul Goldstein, Head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council.
When asked by Dr. Carmon what is the motivation for someone so far away to become involved in these issues Wright responded, “I spent a lot of time in the region, teaching in Cairo many years ago. I’m 63 years old, the same age as the State of Israel…I’m an American, we have a big stake in this…I don’t feel like I am an outsider.”
Dr. Carmon asked the panel members to articulate their personal view on the message conveyed by the performance. Prof. Shany said, “I think the two parties are locked in a situation and can’t get out. I think this is something the international community has a stake in. I think we may have reached a point after 63 years when we need to ask for assistance,” adding that for him, there was a “message of a certain hopelessness.”
Dr. Carmon then presented his thoughts, “Fear and freedom cannot co-exist. I am a son of the Zionist movement. The Zionist movement flourished when it was courageous. We need courage.”
Speaking next, Shaul Goldstein said, “I disagree. We have to be courageous and say: Yes, this is ours.”
Wright said that he feels the performance’s message to Israelis is to “hold up a mirror so you can see what it looks like to someone on the outside. Someone who cares…I think Israelis talk about peace, but really talk about the status quo – well, the status quo is exploding…Israel still has a chance to change this narrative.”
The Human Scale will be performed at the Cameri Theatre, 19 Shaul Hamelech Blvd. Tel Aviv, tonight, Friday, May 20, 2011 and tomorrow, Saturday, May 21, 2011 in Cameri 4 at 21:00. Tickets: 03-6060960 or 03-6060900.
You write wonderful articles I have learned a lot thanks.
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