Brett Singer & Associates, LLC
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE
Back by Popular Demand!
DESERT SUNRISE
Israeli Army veteran Misha Shulman’s
controversial new play about a female suicide bomber and the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, DESERT SUNRISE, will return to Theater for
the New City. Performances begin on
Thursday, April 6th and will continue through Sunday, April 23rd.
DESERT SUNRISE tells a story about a chance encounter
between an Israeli soldier and a Palestinian man. Taking refuge in a desert wadi, the two men are initially
antagonistic, but each is surprisingly open to the other’s views. Just when they seem to have overcome their
distrust for each other, they are joined by the Palestinian man's beloved, who
embodies an odd, impermeable shell of ideology and radical zeal that neither of
the men can penetrate. As the three
reach into their own pasts, they not only find similarities, but also begin to
understand the psychological and social fabric behind their political beliefs.
Over the course of one memorable night the process of mutual understanding and
forgiveness begins, halts, gets rejected, but is ultimately embraced by the
pained characters. DESERT
SUNRISE uses
English, Hebrew and Arabic dialogue between the three characters and is
interspersed with choral odes, performed by onstage musicians and adapted by
Shulman from various translations of Aeschylus' "Agamemnon." At times, the characters quote Osama Bin Laden,
an Israeli mother who lost her son to the conflict, Ariel Sharon, Hamas
leaders, Israeli and Palestinian politicians, peace activists, and Palestinian
cave dwellers. It also employs
Indonesian shadow techniques that are shared with Egyptian puppetry.
The play is set in the desert hills south of Hebron,
where several thousand Palestinian shepherds and farmers have been living in
natural caves since the early 19th century. For the past two decades
the cave-dwellers have been terribly oppressed by both the Israeli Army and
settlers in an attempt to force them out of the land and open it for take over
by fundamentalist Jewish settlers. Over
80% of the caves have been demolished, wells stuffed with rocks, olive groves
stolen and cattle poisoned, leaving the cave-dwellers with close to nothing to
live on. Despite this unbearable injustice the cave-dwellers have remained
non-violent, resisting the loud voices in Palestinian society to take arms
against the Israelis. The region is
birthplace of the Ta’ayush peace movement (the word means “living together” in
Arabic), a group that will provide support for this production.
Author and director Misha Shulman was Commander in
Charge of Education in the Communications Unit of Lebanon while serving in the
Israeli Defense Forces from 1996 to 1999.
He is now a member of the The Living Theatre and DADA New York, as well
as founding director of the Free Theatre Collective. His memoir of service in Lebanon, "Memories of a Forgotten
People," was published in the September-October 2005 issue of Tikkun
magazine. Reviewing DESERT SUNRISE
during its run in 2005, NYTheatre.com said that the play was “Moving and
unforgettable... Shulman presents his message with eloquence, intelligence and
beauty”, while Jewish Week said that the play "Goes beyond the Israeli
perspective to embrace the points of view of both sides." Because of the
success of the earlier engagement, the play has returned to TNC, and will also
tour campuses across the United States beginning in April. DESERT SUNRISE also received the 2005 Andrew
and Eleanor Mcglinchee Prize from Hunter College.
The cast for DESERT SUNRISE will include Alice Borman, Jared
Miller, Haythem Noor, Yifat Sharabi and Morteza Tavakoli. Dalia Carella, a leading figure in the field
of Middle Eastern dance in America, will choreograph and perform dances through
the play. The original music is by former Israeli Paratroopers Lieutenant,
internationally acclaimed Oud (Middle Eastern lute) and percussion player Yoel
Ben Simhon. Design duties will be handled by Celia Owens (sets) and Itai Erdal
(lighting).
DESERT SUNRISE will begin performances on Thursday, April 6th,
and will continue through Sunday, April 23rd. Performances will be Thursdays through
Saturdays at 8:00pm, with Sunday matinees at 3:00pm. Tickets will be $15.00 for all seats. Tickets may be purchased by
calling (212) 254-1109 or visit www.theaterforthenewcity.net. Photos will be
available for download at www.brettsinger.com/clients/desertsunrise.html;
the press is invited to attend anytime after April 6th.
DESERT
SUNRISE
Written and Directed by
Misha Shulman
At Theater For The New
City, 155 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th Streets)
Thursday, April 6th
through Sunday, April 23rd
NOTE: No performance on
Passover, Thursday April 13th
SCHEDULE: Thursdays through
Saturdays at 8:00pm, Sundays at 3:00pm
TICKETS: $15.00; Call (212) 254-1109 or visit
www.theaterforthenewcity.net
# # #
311 West 43rd Street, Suite #1107 Phone:
(212) 307-7181
New York, NY 10036 FAX: (212) 307-7178
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