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Bite 09

The Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv and

The Barbican Theatre presents

PLONTER

A play by Yael Ronen and the Company

Translated into English by Anthony Berris

Set and Costume design by Einat Palgi

Music by Alon Lotringer

Video Design by Ariel Efron

Lighting design by Keren Granek

Barbican Pit

27 January – 7 February, 2009

I

zens

A review by Marion Drew for EXTRA! EXTRA!

 “Passport! … ID!” the uniformed, armed guard at the door demands … and he is not smiling.

Once inside, the audience is faced with a concrete wall, huge slabs of stark grey across which images constantly move; groups of gun-wielding militia, children running, rooftops peopled with gunmen, checkpoints, more soldiers.

This timely production provides a passionate and intense social commentary on the real current crisis in Gaza, focusing as it does not on analysing political power relations, but on a scrupulous and unflinching insight into the minutiae of daily life on both sides of the conflict.

The cast are mixed Jewish-Israeli and Arab, each deliberately playing both Arabs and Jews over the course of the performance. The play is the result of six months intensive ‘on the ground’ research and work-shopping, and although these are actors at work, the fact that they are also clearly people who live this conflict every day of their lives, gives the production its undeniable gritty authenticity. It is played in alternating Hebrew and Arabic, with subtitles in both languages and in English, adding to the visceral impact of the production.

‘Plonter’ means ‘tangle’ in Yiddish, and it is indeed a tragically tangled set of personal tales, the fulcrum for them all being the death of a Palestinian child shot by an IDF Israeli soldier while playing football with friends, and the inevitable retaliation that follows. The play centres around two bereaved families, Jewish and Palestinian, but the tangle of other lives weaves in and out, wives, husbands, mothers, brothers, sisters, no-one is untouched by the vicious cycle. Beliefs on both sides are made clear, but political and moral positions are not left wholly unchallenged. The deeply felt anger, frustration and fear comes through constantly; in the mourning song of the bereaved Palestinian mother, whose child is celebrated as a shaheed (hero/martyr); in a scene where the whole cast as Israelis talk about their first-hand experiences of terrorist attacks, an experience which is comically parodied in a scene in a Tel Aviv bus when a ‘suspicious looking’ Arab with a backpack gets on board.

Writer/director Yael Ronen is not afraid to use humour, and although it is dark and has a vicious bite, the laughter is real. Scenes such as that where a Palestinian family wake up to discover that the security wall being built down the middle of their house, makes it necessary for them to pass through the checkpoint manned by a cheeky female Israeli soldier in order to reach their bathroom and kitchen, are funny, but also thought-provoking. There is a twist of delightful Jewish humour throughout, wry comments, "I didn't know there were Christian terrorists ... I mean, Arabs," says the fabulously loud Tippi, a flamboyant Israeli woman, holding a ‘peace’ dinner party for her Christian Arab guests; ‘do you use them that often?’ the construction worker asks the Palestinian family about their toilet and kitchen. These moments, set against the horror and tragedy of the conflict, somehow bring it all closer.

The video work (Ariel Efron) and lighting (Keren Granek) are superb, carefully chosen and beautifully edited images providing a constantly evocative background to the drama. Playing to British audiences who are largely distant from such realities, and who are bombarded with media images that often serve paradoxically to distance them from what it is to live under such conditions¸ this play has an important message.
So, even if you think that it is not for you, take yourself in hand, be a little patient and give this play a try. You will learn something.

The Pit
Barbican Theatre
London, EC2Y 8DS

Performances: 19:45/17:00 Tickets: £15

BOX OFFICE 0845 120 7554 
www.barbican.org.uk

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