Playwright Lisa Loomer feels she has given voice to both sides of the Israel-Palestinian conflict in her provocative play, Two Things You Dont Talk About at Dinner, playing in the DCPAs Space Theatre through Feb. 19.
If you are someone who is so fervently supportive of Israel, that you cannot stand to hear anything pro-Palestinian, this play is not for you.
But if you are of the Rodney King cant-we-all-just-get-along mindset, you will probably appreciate Loomers look at a Passover seder gone wrong, and the scourge of all the isms in todays world that threaten to tear people apart rather than unite them.
And if political correctness is your thing, a different warning: Two Things is an equal opportunity offender.
The setting for Two Things is Myriams seder in present-day Los Angeles. The intimacy of the Space Theatre affords the audience a true you-are-there experience.
Myriam, the protagonist (portrayed by Mimi Lieber), is a 50-year-old woman who has recently embraced her Judaism and is a passionate lover of Israel.
She and her relatively new husband Jack have invited a multi-cultural gaggle of seder guests, each with a different ism to represent: Zionism, Arabism, Evangelism, ageism, secular humanism, Buddhism, globalism, racism and other stereotypes that dont have the ism suffix: bulimia, Asian-Americans, intermarriage, conversion and illegal immigration.
Every time Jack tries to lead the seder in a proper direction, the discussion of the exodus from Egypt devolves into heated, if not absurd, discussions of the shackles of the various personal isms that plague the seder guests.
The most dramatic and damning argument is the Israelis- versus-Palestinians showdown, with Myriam and second-generation Holocaust survivor Josh defending Israel while Myriams lifelong Palestinian-Lebanese American friend Sam condemns the Israelis.
Sam gets some help along the way from Myriams grown daughter Nikki , who shocks and sickens Myriam with the announcement that she is directing an anti-Israeli play about Rachel Corrie, the young woman who was killed during a protest in Gaza.
Both parties make impassioned arguments for their sides, although Sams imagery of Israeli soldiers using tear gas or other weapons to stop Palestinian protestors comes off as more dramatic and damning than Myriams and Joshs imagery of the horrors of the Holocaust and the suffering of the Jews throughout history. If one were keeping score in this debate, the pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli side would win.
Two Things You Dont Talk About at Dinner has some amusing moments when the stereotypes of some of the guests are lampooned. The characters are also interesting and well-developed.
Most of the time, however, the conflicts across the seder table make one wish this seder would end soon and the prophet Elijah would actually come through that open door on his white horse.
Copyright © 2012 by the Intermountain Jewish News
