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From Tel Aviv to Ramallah with Yuri Lane |
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Human Beatbox and Vocal Magician Yuri Lane presents From Tel Aviv to Ramallah, a hip-hop travelogue of peace. From Tel Aviv to Ramallah is Lane's part hip-hop performance part street-wise documentary. Lane weaves a vox-pop tapestry of Palestinian & Israeli voices into a mosaic of the Middle East. Against a backdrop of muezzin calls and Tel Aviv traffic, the lives of Khalid and Amir progress with a hip-hop beat and intersect at a West Bank checkpoint In 1999, Yuri Lane traveled from Tel Aviv to Ramallah by bus, taxi and foot to visit friends on both sides of the Green Line. On his return from Ramallah, Yuri was caught in a riot that foreshadowed the current Intifada. He also discovered the cultural divide between Israelis and Palestinians as well as the numerous commonalities of the two cultures . Yuri brings the experience of his travels through Israel and Palestine to the stage in his new beatbox play, From Tel Aviv to Ramallah. From Tel Aviv to Ramallah telescopes the lives of Amir, a Tel Aviv dj and delivery boy, and Khalid, a Palestinian internet caf? owner. The show shuttles back and forth between a day in the life of Amir and Khalid and portrays the urban youth cultures of Israel and Palestine. As audiences visit a Tel Aviv rave, a Ramallah internet caf? and the bustling marketplaces of both cities, they see the struggle and the humor of life in the midst of conflict. From Tel Aviv to Ramallah presents the parallel stories of Israelis and Palestinians and presents a vision of peace. Yuri Lane brings the Middle East to life through the hip-hop medium of beatbox combined with acting and dance. Sharif Ezzat accompanies Yuri with live video projections. The vision of Jewish-Arab coexistence is realized in the artistic team of Yuri and Sharif, a Jew and a Muslim who combine forces again after the success of their beatbox play "Soundtrack City" in San Francisco and New York. From Tel Aviv to Ramallah is a modern retelling of the story of the brothers Isaac and Ishmael, the Jewish and Arab sons of the patriarch Abraham. In Tel Aviv to Ramallah, the shared father is the land that is characterized by deep division. As Abraham's division between his two sons led to violence against both, the abandonment of Ishmael to the wilderness and the sacrifice of Isaac, the division of the land leads to great violence against its modern day sons. In the play, Isaac is reconfigured as Amir, a Tel Aviv dj and delivery boy, and Ishmael as Khalid, a Ramallah internet entrepreneur. Their shared father is the land whose violence unravels the ambitions and hopes of Khalid and Amir. Amir's mother, Ruti, is the tough Israeli matriarch who lives under the constant fear of her son being sent yet again for duty in the occupied territories. She represents Sarah the Jewish matriarch. Khalid's mother, Amina, is Hagar the Egyptian, mother to Ishmael who cries out to God in her moment of desperation when she fears the loss of her son's life. The mothers and their sons are caught in the land's inexorable cycle of fear and violence Starring: Yuri Lane Performing in San Francisco: Related Links:
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