Staging Identity: Introduction to Hebrew and Arabic Theater

Catalog description

The course traces the history of theatre in Israel from its beginnings in Eastern and Central Europe in the early years of the twentieth century, through its development in pre-state Palestine and the early decades of Israel (1950s-60s), to the present. The thesis of the course is that theatre in Israel—both Hebrew and Arabic—is “political” theatre; almost all the drama written and produced over the past 120 years is a sharp comment on what is going on the society—politics, religion, societal fault-lines (Palestinian Arabs, Jews from Arab lands, Western- and Eastern-European Jews, native-born Israelis), the Holocaust, the army and the wars, the Arab-Israeli conflict, Zionism—indeed, identity itself. Theatre is the prism through which Israeli society is refracted. We begin with “foundational” plays of the early twentieth century, in the context of the social and political dynamics of that era, which influenced the development of the history of Israeli theatre; thence, representative plays from different periods, examining each in terms of the internal literary dynamics of the drama, and in terms of the political, historical, and societal dynamics of the period in which the play was written and produced. Both primary and secondary literature are examined in the course. Students will read several representative plays in English translation. We survey the history of the development of theatre companies in the Yishuv (the pre-State Jewish community in Palestine) and in Israel, both Hebrew and Arabic. Finally, the course examines the activities of the mainstream theatres in Israel, satirical theatre, and the crucial role played by the “Fringe”—avant-garde and experimental companies. The student will dissect Israeli theatre both as works of literary drama and as theatrical works responding to societal issues in Israel and Palestine.