Crossing Jerusalem

One thing I value about Vienna Theatre Project is their willingness to tell difficult, important stories. Julia Pascal’s Crossing Jerusalem is one of them: a politically charged play about a Jewish family crossing the city during the Second Intifada to visit a Palestinian restaurant.

I developed the poster and campaign visuals before a photoshoot or final production imagery was available. The challenge was to create a compelling image without reducing its people, histories or conflict to a simple statement.

The design centres on the journey at the heart of the play. A dotted route moves between two points on a cityscape, passing checkpoints, distance and the pressure of a city under continual threat. Rather than illustrating the characters directly, it creates a visual narrative that leaves room for the play’s humour, intimacy and competing perspectives.