One thing i love about the vtp is that they are not afraid to tell important stories, no matter what. Crossing Jerusalem was certainly one of those. It’s a difficult terrain to cover safely, but Joanna Godwin-Sieidl - as per usual - did a wonderful job.
Everything happens within 24 hours: the Kaufmanns, a dysfunctional Jewish family, decide to cross Jerusalem during the 2nd Intifada, to visit a Palestinian restaurant “they have the best hummus…” “All Jews, who dare go, eat for free…”. In the restaurant they meet Palestinian acquaintances, awakening ghosts from a shared past. Nothing is as it seems, everyone has secrets. Nonetheless, a spark of love ignites a series of revelations and chain of events under the extreme duress of Jerusalem, a vibrant city on continuous bomb alert.
In “Crossing Jerusalem”, emotion, humour and irony abound. Against a backdrop of nationalism and inter-religious dynamics, during a well-intentioned birthday bash, the day-to-day lives of all eight protagonists are deeply impacted. The matriarch Varda (Jewish, a dubious real estate agent), Gideon (her son, a desperate soldier), Sammy (Palestinian Christian, a restaurant owner) Yusuf (Palestinian Muslim and a waiter) and their relatives, mirror the multi-levelled conflict between Israel and the Arab world. The current international, political mood swings beg to keep the discourse about Israel and Palestine alive. In this truly explosive work for the stage, no one is spared.
