A stage for
war and peace

Caryl Churchill’s short play Seven Jewish
Children cuts across generations to mull over
conflicts past and present

EXPLAINING OLD AND NEW WARS:
Seven Jewish Children in London

by MATT JONES

British playwright Caryl Churchill is no stranger to political theatre. Works like Cloud 9 and Top Girls are widely studied surrealistic explorations of the problems of gender and sexuality. But what is surprising about her latest play is that it tackles such tangible issues. Written during Israel’s invasion of Gaza last winter, Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza is a poetic 10-minute distilling of conflicts that have marked Jewish life over the past 50 years.

On Sunday, May 3, Independent Jewish Voices Montreal (IJVM) is organizing the Canadian premiere of the play. It will be read in both English and French and followed by a discussion that organizers hope will help to initiate dialogue between the communities affected in Montreal.

“This play is likely to spark conversation,” says director Rose Plotek, on the phone from Toronto. The piece provoked a flurry of response when it was staged at the Royal Court in London less than three weeks after Israel pulled out of Gaza. Comments ranged from predictable charges of anti-Semitism in the New Atlantic to ardent praise from figures like American playwright Tony Kushner.

But Plotek insists the play is kosher. “It’s about the human struggle of parents struggling with how to communicate violence to children, how communication passes from generation to generation,” she says.

Now teaching drama at York University, Plotek cut her theatrical teeth at Concordia and the National Theatre School in Montreal. This is her second Churchill production.

The play features several characters trying to tackle the question of how to explain to their children how to deal with the Holocaust, with emigration from Eastern Europe, to war in Israel, ending with the invasion of Gaza in December 2008.

“It’s like being at home, around the dinner table, just talking,” says Talia Goodfriend, a member of IJVM.

The play is written for an indeterminate number of actors, who play unnamed characters disagreeing about what their children should be told about the atrocities going on around them. Plotek has cast 10 women, who will be reading the text in both languages at both performances, making it also the first French performance of the piece.

Abby Lippman, another member of IJVM, says the power of the piece comes from its ruminations about how we determine the nature of reality itself. “What do we tell our children? How do we decide what the truth of a situation is? How do we separate what is true and false in an event?” she wonders.

Churchill intends the play to be a political event and has used it to raise money for charities in Gaza. She has made the text available free on the Web site of The Guardian, waiving copyright fees on the condition that those who stage readings pass a hat for Palestine. True to Churchill’s wishes, entry is free but IJVM will be collecting cash to go towards medical aid for Palestinians.

“A piece of theatre can respond quickly to events going on in the world,” says Plotek. But the evening is not just about politics. “What people will hear is a very strong piece of theatrical text that is pressing and beautiful.”

SEVEN JEWISH CHILDREN AT THE
GEORDIE SPACE (4001 BERRI, SUITE
103) ON SUNDAY, MAY 3, 3 P.M. AND 6
P.M. . RESERVATIONS:
IJVM.VJIM@GMAIL.COM. THE COMPLETE
SCRIPT CAN BE DOWNLOADED
AT ROYALCOURTTHEATRE.COM