Goodreads Review: Israel Zangwill: The Melting-Pot, Chosen People

Israel Zangwill, a renowned author of the early 20th century, was celebrated for his wit and intellect. His skillful use of dialogue is evident in his traditional four-act play, a work that echoes the spirit of modern playwrights of his time. Of particular note is Teddy Roosevelt's enthusiastic praise for this drama, a commendation that sparked my interest. Zangwill's use of the term' melting pot' as a metaphor further adds to the play's significance. 

I appreciated the protagonist, David, a gifted Jewish violinist and survivor of a deadly Russian pogrom who immigrated to America at his Uncle Mendel's place for freedom. Although idealistic, Zangwill gives David his best lines, referring to America as the crucible where immigrants blend and mold together, leaving the past behind for a brighter future. The plot thickens when he falls in love with a noble Russian, Vera, who rebelled from Tsarist Russia and her antisemitic parents. Their journey is not without its challenges, and I found myself deeply empathizing with their struggles. They grow together when Vera uses her connections to help David become recognized in New York- the pot boils as their backgrounds flare up and Vera's parents enter the scene along with her antisemitic admirer.

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Goodreads Review: The Storyteller of Jerusalem: The Life and Times of Wasif Jawhariyyeh, 1904-1948

Told through the eyes, heart, soul, and intelligence of an accomplished oud musician, Wasif Jawhariyyeh’s memoirs provide a philosophical, realistic, and artistic perception of life, culture, and society from childhood in the Ottoman Empire through the British Mandate and eventually Israel’s independence, where insufferable conditions forced his family to migrate from Jerusalem to Beirut leaving his beloved oud collection behind. Through simplistic storytelling, his memoirs reveal the integrity and flavor of the transitions and the strife of his family, friends, artists, and accounting associates at his day job with the transitory government tax departments. Wasif Jawhariyyeh’s memoirs are a perfect stepping stone for those wanting to learn about existence, customs, and civilization in Palestine during this turbulent epoch. 

As a lover of string instruments, I appreciated the distinctions Wasif drew from Western and Middle Eastern music notation as a cultural phenomenon. He also dealt with the resistance of European music teachers in Palestine, who pushed for Western notation on Arabic music, negating the Middle Eastern sound from which Wasif stood his ground, emphasizing the original aesthetic, and drawing the European experts on the differences between Western and Eastern music.

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THE SHADOW RING

I wrote a short experimental play, THE SHADOW RING, about two boxers, a MAN and a WOMAN, duking it out. A shadow of impending danger mystifies the rounds- genderswap leaving them in a perpetual fight with their conscience.

The impetus of this play is a scorching past of personality clashes over competitive issues concerning human stature, lifestyles, and those situations that trigger betrayal. The underlying cause of this trauma has repeatedly caused breakups of relationships and friendships. Now more than ever, personality conflicts involve political polarity adding another layer to the mix of severing connections and ties. I wrote a dance dramatically entwined in a boxing match for the challenge of the light consciousness to overcome the darkness or vice versa.

THE SHADOW RING

The Rewrite.

Destiny.

Two boxers, TOP HAT and ELLE-DEVIL, unknowingly destined for each other, enter a fierce gender swap boxing match for the Championship crown. ELLE-DEVIL, betrayed by her husband, is out for revenge and threatens to murder him, his mistress, and their children. It’s a familiar Medea-inspired play, yet her seduction combats his integrity, compassion, and understanding- Justice vs. her revenge.

I’ve unearthed another layer of the drama, which surfaced as the underlying cause of racism and suffering: homophobia that throws the boxers into chaos, down with the patriarchy ELLE-DEVIL, a foxy vixen, who is out to get TOP HAT, a world-class champion righteous human, who falls under her spell. The chaos caused by homophobia and patriarchy is palpable, disrupting the match and adding a layer of unease. ELLE-DEVIL plays every trick in the book to reveal his flaws. He fights for what he believes is right, and will he finish strong? ELLE- DEVIL fights with a vengeance, and will she get away with it? A shadow of impending danger looms as the drama unfolds in Ten Rounds in The Shadow Ring.

THE SHADOW RING, is on NPX and up to read and recommend. 

https://newplayexchange.org/plays/2670350/shadow-ring?fbclid=IwAR3Zu_Qv6VKk2oGlnp16gST79A9HSL8edezYWt4-j3JHE0gKlVLyPGCe8xQ

#drama experimental surreal

 The Blind Spur

 

Open in a vessel

Music from above

Blue rain pours gratitude.

On the grass

Where the geese crow in harmony

As humans walk by

Breathing when one

Goose strays to cross the street-

Draws a blank

Not knowing where love comes from

Not looking both ways-

Splat – A buzzard drags the 

Goose to the grass

The geese bellow, grieve

While the buzzard fills his tummy

The next day, 

The flowers bloom sapphire blue.

The sun pours love and light into

The vessel

The birds chirp a call of the wild.

The vessel fills with light and love,

Breaks away from the past

With an abundance of geese, ducks and chicks

Horse drawn carriages stand ready.

Light in the vessel reciprocates the love

To all beings suffering on the planet

It gives hope, food, money, and new friends

A miraculous day it’s been

Love is everywhere

Under the couch, on the table,

In the doorway, the foyer, the wooden houses,

The caves, the rain forest, the mountaintop

 

-Elizabeth West Versalie

Boynton Beach, FL

Notes - Before The Reading - August 21, 2021

Anticipating an excellent read of my play BIRDS ON WIRES for the Thinking Cap’s Theatre play reading festival- Stranger Than Fiction, I arrived promptly at the beautiful, scenic Bonnet House Museum on a Sunday afternoon. The readings consisted of thirteen short plays developed in workshop on Zoom to be performed at the Island Theatre- a hut structure rectangular fits about 50 folding chairs. An actor, Steve, parked next to me, and we found our way to the theatre with the help of a golf cart and driver. As the actors and playwrights entered, I experienced a feeling of newness and was open to meeting new faces. The actors lined up on the right along the window nook with scripts on their laps, highlighting- before the cue calls. I got to chat a bit with the actors reading my script Rod, Philip, and Ashley. As the audience entered, the nervousness faded, and that feeling of welcoming warmth added to the stir of excitement filling the space. Another 9 minutes to go - It’s 3 PM - Showtime! The actors weaved through the works in repertory, which is the best way. Grateful to Artistic Director- Nicole Stodard and Bree-Anna Obst of Thinking Cap Theatre for putting together a phenomenal playwriting event.

A sketch of the opening scene BIRDS ON WIRES

Putting on a Table Reading During the New Normal

In anticipation of my visit to New York City, I'm preparing a play reading of my new comedy, SOCIAL CLIMBERS AND THE UNDIAGNOSED NERVOUS BREAKDOWN, at La MaMa's rehearsal studios.

Putting on an in-person table reading dares a risk-taker in any environment, but it's a new extreme in a pandemic.  First, finishing the draft, which is a beast in itself, then securing a space. There's casting- finding available actors to read around a table, preparing the draft ready for the printing, and finding compassionate spectators to provide constructive feedback. On top of all of that, there are Covid protocols required to keep everyone safe.  These necessary precautions are the new normal: proof of vaccination, masks, hand sanitizers, and social distancing.  It's not a problem dealing with a problem.  Yet, the natural being of the actors, spectators, and myself, the playwright, will be affected, and the process will look and feel different than readings I've done before the pandemic.  Now it seems best to plow through it. I've completed casting.  I'm back to script editing. 

"Dear Mr. President and Madam Vice President"

 January 2021

Dear Mr. President and Madam Vice President, 

Congratulations on winning the 2020 election and taking the high road during this tumultuous and chaotic transition.  During this saddest period in my living years, I hope and urge that the Arts will come to the forefront, make a difference, and flourish throughout your term commencing with your well-deserved entrance on January 20^th.  Your arrival provides a promise for the best and brightest minds in your new administration to bring about change. The Arts provide a vital role in bolstering the economy and elevating the soul to discern that we are all equal.   Daisaku Ikeda, the Buddhist philosopher, said it succinctly, “The power of art can break the shackles that bind and divide human beings.”   Bringing the country together is your priority.  To do that with unabashed enthusiasm, curiosity, joy, and fun - Why not have the arts as a primary instrument, and establish a Department and Secretary of Arts and Culture as part of the equation? The government must take an optimistic stand to unify, heal, and transform the lies and hate into a new paradigm that truth and empathy matter.  The Arts are the most convincing means of bringing ingenuity, honesty, understanding, and power to the people with mass appeal and massive revenue.

I am inspired to take this opportunity to be an Arts advocate and activist for Be An #ArtsHero via The Dramatists Guild of America, of which I am a proud member. The Guild provides the essentials for playwrights to pursue the art of writing truth to power to transcend audiences with a higher understanding of the human condition.   Democracy has never been tested like now for the truth to be told on the stage.  We take on the challenges of rebuilding the arts in society commencing in the villages, cities, states, and the country nationwide.  

Some examples of the economic impact of Arts & Culture by the Bureau of Economic Analysis are:

•        877 billion in value added to the U.S. Economy
•       5.1 million jobs across the U.S. are Arts & Culture jobs
•      4.5% of U.S. GDP (more than Agriculture and Mining combined, and bigger than        Transportation or Tourism
•   $1.83B: Broadway ticket sales in 2019 (more than top 10 NY/NJ sports teams combined

 As you are aware, the arts have added emotional and economic value to heal a nation during times of crisis.  A Secretary of Arts & Culture can oversee the financial power of revenue and assist workers in the arts from ever facing dire conditions due to an unforeseen calamity such as the Covid pandemic. The biggest nightmare of all to an artist is a dream slashed due to long term unemployment and the rug pulled from under them. Imagine the performers, musicians, stagehands, and the front of house workers, management who all received the big break on a Broadway musical before the shutdown, suffered the loss of work, a home, health insurance, and then had to move elsewhere to find a job to make ends meet.

The Covid crisis is a comparable shock to the economy as the Great Depression.  The New Deal’s power, the Works Progress Administration, the WPA Federal Theatre Project (1935-1939) saved New York theatre and the arts, which fostered Orson Wells of The Mercury Theatre.  The FTP also provided support for theatrical tours and brought theatre and arts education to communities.  The Works Progress Administration’s monumental effort was the stepping-stone for the Golden Age of theatre, art, music, dance of the 20^th century.  The Arts need a grand undertaking to build the arts back better not only but with more excellence and sustaining marketability.  

According to the Brookings Institution report regarding Lost Art: Measuring Covid-19’s devasting impact on America’s creative economy, “this strategy must be supported across the board and led by local public-private partnerships between municipal governments, arts and cultural organizations, economic development and community groups, philanthropy, and private sector, with support from federal and state levels of government, national philanthropy, and large corporations.” 

Our stages are dark.  The performing arts are hit the hardest, suffering losses of “1.4 million jobs and 42.5 billion in sales. These estimated losses represent 50% of all jobs in those industries and more than a quarter of all sales nationwide.”  - Brookings Institution

While we reimagine arts and education on Zoom, creative thinkers are at work bringing music, dance theatre, opera to the homes during the winter months.  The impact of arts and youth development through education in the communities is 40% are more likely to have friends from different racial groups. Four out of five are more likely to vote, a five percent drop in neighborhood crime, nine out of ten say that arts increase connection.  

There is so much more to advocate for a solid Arts & Culture plan to heal the nation’s soul in the new administration. The Arts & Culture jobs agenda coinciding with affordable healthcare and rebuilding the infrastructure is a think-tank proposal.  Keeping the faith and looking forward to the Biden-Harris creative approach to govern, heal, and unify our great diverse nation through the arts.  

Thank you for your attention! 

Yours sincerely,

Elizabeth West Versalie

Playwright, Dramatists Guild, Member

 

Tags: @BeAnArtsHero @DramatistsGuild @JoeBiden @KamalaHarris @WhiteHouse #ArtsWorkersUnite #First100Days