POTENTIALLY INCENDIARY PIECE READ BY AND IS GOING TO BE STAGED BY JCC
The Jewish Community Center of Cleveland presented a staged reading of award-winning contemporary Israeli playwright Motti Lerner’s script, ‘PANGS OF THE MESSIAH.’ This was a preview of the play which will be fully staged next season.
The reading, directed by Cleveland Play House’s Seth Gordon, featured an excellent cast.
The play, as was obvious during the after-reading talk session, is going to incite much discussion within the community. It is a probing script which is filled with words, not on-stage actions. And the words are incendiary.
The interactions center on what may happen, in the near future, when a peace treaty with the Palestinians, is about to be enacted. What will happen to those “settlers,” mostly ultra-religious Jews who live in Samaria, basically the northern part of the West Bank of the Jordan River. How will they respond? Will they be willing to give up what they think is the very heart of religious Israel for peace?
Capsule judgement: Look for the staged version next year!
