Presented in association with Asylum Arts at Bush Theatre. Curated by Victor Esses, the plays presented are:
The Kahena, Berber Queen by Berthe Bénichou-Aboulker (Algeria), translated from French by Jessica Benhamou
Directed by Jessica Benhamou
Performed by Lyna Dubarry, Liraz Chamami, Ruggero Barlaba, and Ali Azhar
This is the story of the warrior queen and seer, La Kahena, often described as the Jewish Joan of Arc, who led her people in the resistance against the Umayyad Caliphate invasion of North Africa.
Papa’gina by Hanna Vazana Grunwald (Israel), with a rough translation from Hebrew by Sivan Battat
Directed by Hetty Hodgson
Performed by Orna Salinger, Sophia Eleni, Behsat El-Bes, and Adi Loya
Young Yemima has just moved from Morocco to Israel. As a new Jewish immigrant, she must navigate her parents’ broken relationship, her mother’s relationship to a Palestinian man, and her own sexual awakening.
Heartlines by Sarah Waisvisz (Canada)
Directed by Kayla Feldman
Performed by Ray Filar and Regev Amit
The narrative traces love, art, and war through reimagining the lives of French surrealist and avant-garde artists Lucy Schwob (a.k.a. Claude Cahun) and Suzanne Malherbe (a.k.a. Marcel Moore), as secretly Jewish, queer life partners active in the French Resistance during World War II.
Extinct by Philip Arditti (Turkey/UK)
Directed by Oscar Toeman
Performed by David Djemal and Tiran Aakel
Amidst the protests in Istanbul in 2013, a Turkish Jewish family faces a cross-generational reckoning with their Jewish identity past and present.
A People by L M Feldman (USA)
Directed by Julia Samuels
Performed by Guy Woolf, Olu Adaeze, Hemi Yeroham, and Emma Leah Golding
A lyrical exploration of the history and present of the Jewish diaspora, in which an ensemble of shifting characters journey through heritage, religion, tradition, and humanity, across time, space, age, and gender. Using rhythms, music, unexpected interactions and lyrical contemporary text, it examines how one relates to their lineage.
The post-performance panel discussion was chaired by Lora Krasteva, and featured curator Victor Esses, political editor and Board of Deputies of British Jews chair Stephen Bush, and Keshet UK Executive Director Dalia Fleming.
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