A satirical, cabaret-style performance peppered with multimedia effects and a mixture of humor and social and political criticism, "Ambassadors of Very Good Will" has been making the rounds at American universities in recent days. The production features two young Israeli actors, Ibrahim Miari of Acre and Meirav Kupperberg of Haifa, who met at the Acre Theater Center when working together on a number of productions.
Their close friendship engendered the idea of putting on a play based on their personal sensitivities and their experiences in the complex Israeli reality. Howard Rypp, the director of the Tel Aviv-based Nephesh Theater, translated the text that the two wrote into English, and also directed and produced the play.
In one scene, a highly confidential meeting takes place between two secret agents - the one from the Palestinian Authority, the other from the Israeli Mossad - with the aim of signing a clandestine peace agreement. Each side has a list of demands; at the top of the Israeli list is the demand to stop the terror.
Secret Agent Abdullah (Miari): "We denounce all terrorism. We will promise to engage in a serious discussion with all terrorist organizations. We will inform them of the urgency of this matter. We will tell them that thes! ! ! e acts are destroying us financially and socially, and are completely destroying our lives and our homes. They will, of course, give serious consideration to our request, but will not agree and will continue to send our youth to blow themselves up, still arguing that this is the only viable way to bring about a solution."
Secret Agent Shimrit (Kupperberg): "Uhhh, I see ..."
Abdullah: "And what about your people? Do you intend to dismantle the settlements?"
Shimrit: "Of course. Today the great majority of Israelis view the settlements as stumbling blocks to peace. So we will now sign an agreement with you declaring that we will freeze the building of all settlements. We will begin the immediate evacuation of all the settlements in Areas A, B, C and D.
At this point, she starts to sing, "A-B-C-D-E-F-G, / She got married to an Arab guy / Then he took her down to the shore / There he drowned her evermore," as a kind of children's song.
The play! ! ! is suited to a foreign audience, and comprises scenes involving acting, dance and video clips. In certain segments the audience is also given a role and becomes part of the show.
The twosome set off to the United States with their production after the premiere at the Jewish-Arab Theater in Jaffa. At first, they did not have an easy time of it. Miari encountered difficulties getting an entry visa, and thus the trip was delayed a number of times, which fouled up the schedule and made effective advertising difficult. Rypp told the actors that not everyone would agree to put on their play. Jewish organizations that sponsored the tour warned them that "even in places where they accept you, the treatment you'll get as Israelis is liable to be quite negative."
Despite the difficulties, the actors performed at a number of major American universities, including the University of California at Berkeley, and were greeted with warmth and enth! ! ! usiasm by the audiences, which identified with the message of coexistence. There were also Arab spectators in the audience. Kupperberg relates that at one performance, they sat together in one row. In the opening minutes, two of them walked out of the auditorium.
"I hoped the others would stay," she said, "and during the course of the performance, I made a special effort. They stayed." At the end, an impromptu discussion between Jews and Arabs developed in the audience. "I had to go all that way to experience a positive atmosphere between the two peoples and a constructive discussion with mutual respect."
Miari notes that he had a definite and important aim: to transmit a message of belonging to and identifying with the Palestinian people, along with one concerning the loyalty of a citizen to the State of Israel. According to him, many people abroad are not at all aware of the existence of this combination, its complexity and problematics. In the play, he says,! ! ! the actors tried to give an answer to difficult issues of this sort. The solutions may not be found, but the possibility of bringing up questions of identity and coexistence in the atmosphere of hostility that prevails today is considered an achievement.
The play got good reviews, the artists returned to Israel with a feeling of satisfaction and they now await their next performance tour. At the same time, they are also working on a Hebrew version that will be presented to the local audience.
The framework in which they are working is not considered an integral part of the Israeli theater world. Only now, after more than 20 years of local activity, has Howard Rypp's Nephesh Theater won recognition from the Arts and Culture Administration, which means regular budgetary support. The theater, which sees community involvement as one of its main principles, has already put on scores of plays in many venues, and has participated in festivals and within educational fr! ! ! ameworks around the country and abroad.
For example, the play "It Sounds Better in Amharic," which tells the moving story of the difficulties experienced by a Ethiopian youngster who has immigrated to Israel, has been performed 400 times in Israel. A year ago, Rypp translated it into English and it has already had 100 performances in English around the world.
Rypp, who originally founded the theater in Canada at the end of the 1970s, says it is easier to work in Israel: "This is an effervescent place, a country that is full of conflicts, something that makes it possible to make good theater. Every artist aims at doing current and relevant things, and the Israeli audience is hungry for theater. Israelis love to see their reflection on stage."
The productions of the Nephesh Theater touch on social, educational and Jewish issues. The theater's aims, defined back in Canada, are applicable today as well: bridging ethnic, social or religious gaps by means of ! ! ! productions that are educational and entertaining. The most important thing that Rypp brought with him from abroad is a multicultural approach, which is highly valued in Canada's society and culture, and indeed he was among the first to fly the banner of multiculturalism in the world of theater in Israel.
He says he does not feel foreign here, but did feel alienated abroad: "I don't belong to the `in group' and I'm not part of the politics of the theater world here, but I'm very connected to my work here and feel completely at home in Israel, even though I don't like everything that happens in this countrty."
In his plays Rypp focuses on thorny subjects such as domestic and juvenile violence, the value of volunteerism, coexistence between religious and secular people, and the problems of new immigrants. The Nephesh Theater repertoire usually features original plays by Israeli playwrights put on in cooperation with young and veteran actors. There are those, howe! ! ! ver, who say that the theater produces "lecture dramas" of dubious artistic value.
Rypp: "Our plays work on the emotions. We have never tried to be didactic and teach the subjects that are treated in the plays. A play often stimulates a discussion with the participation of the audience, but this is a result of the performance, not part of it. The phrase `lecture drama' hints that a play has been `enlisted' for a purpose. Our aim is to move, to influence."
Rypp is currently working on a repertoire of plays about Israel aimed at the audience abroad. He says that he identifies in the audiences there - and not just the Jewish ones - a desire to know more about Israel and about Israeli society. He hopes that the regular financial support will enable him to expand the theater's activities, take more risks and be more daring artistically in the future.
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Ambassadors of Very Good Will | | 
Ibrahim Miari and Meirav Kupperberg | |
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