美国国家公共电台 NPR Palestinian Play 'The Siege' Finally Gets U.S. Premiere

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

A new play in New York centers on Palestinian militants¹ who hid from the Israeli army for over a month in 2002 inside Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity. NPR's Neda Ulaby reports that "The Siege," not surprisingly, is controversial.

NEDA ULABY, BYLINE²: "The Siege" opens violently...

(SOUNDBITE OF GUNFIRE)

ULABY: ...With the combatants breaking into the church and begging a monk³ to let them stay.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "THE SIEGE")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character, speaking Arabic).

ULABY: "We're here because we have no place else to go," one says. "The Israeli army is everywhere." The play is performed by a Palestinian theater company in Arabic with surtitles. The men argue over cigarettes and politics, talk about missing their families and stave off boredom⁴ by singing.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "THE SIEGE")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, singing in Arabic).

ULABY: "The Siege" was written by Palestinian playwright⁵ Nabil al-Raee. He spent a year and a half researching the script by talking to actual fighters, most of whom are now in exile.

NABIL AL-RAEE: We wanted to meet these people and know, what is their stories? What happened to them? But also, we met people from the church, people in Bethlehem. We wanted to meet everybody, even trying to meet the Israeli army if we could.

ULABY: But al-Raee says the Israeli army was not interested in his research. When "The Siege" toured the United Kingdom in 2015, it was protested and boycotted⁶ because critics said it was one-sided and promoted terrorism. Theater director Ari Roth knows the situation well.

ARI ROTH: The cultural community winds up mirroring the political discourse⁷.

ULABY: Roth used to run a progressive Jewish theater company in Washington, D.C. Then he tried to stage an Israeli play that spoke⁸ of atrocities⁹ against Palestinians. He ended up losing his job. Now he runs another theater and says he's seen multiple companies commit to, then walk away from shows like "I Am Rachel Corrie," "Crossing Jerusalem" and the opera "The Death Of Klinghoffer" all for the same reason.

ROTH: That they're too pro-Palestinian. I mean, I think that you are giving a platform for people to be angry with Israel. And you are giving a platform for those who are looking at the plight¹⁰ of the Palestinians and seeing a people victimized.

ULABY: Just this week, the American Jewish Historical Society in New York canceled a reading of a play that criticized Israel. As a self-described middle-of-the-roadnik (ph), Roth has no problem with Palestinian voices on stage. Neither does Jay Wegman, who runs the theater in New York that's putting on "The Siege."

JAY WEGMAN: Arabic voices are rarely heard. And even more specifically, Palestinian artists aren't all that well represented in New York.

ULABY: At least one other New York theater had thought about staging "The Siege" and decided¹¹ not to, reportedly under pressure from its board. Wegman says his theater, New York University's Skirball Center, sees the show as an educational experience.

WEGMAN: We're trying not to politicize it. It's political enough. So we're not out there, you know, banging the BDS drum.

ULABY: BDS, as in boycotts¹², divestments and sanctions. Instead, NYU is bringing the lead Israeli army negotiator during the actual siege to speak about his experience in conjunction with the play. Talkbacks after shows will feature the likes of Tony Kushner, the celebrated¹³ Jewish-American playwright of "Angels In America." And Wegman says he wants people critical of the play to come see it, people like Josh Glancy.

JOSH GLANCY: I grew up in a very Jewish environment, a very Zionist environment, and I was very interested in the play because I just don't have that much exposure to it.

ULABY: It being Palestinian culture. Glancy reviewed "The Siege" for The Jewish Chronicle when the play toured the United Kingdom.

GLANCY: My main issue with it was I didn't think it was a very good piece of theater. From a technical perspective, I was disappointed. As a piece of polemic¹⁴, it's - you know, it's powerful.

ULABY: Ultimately, Glancy feels "The Siege" lacks context.

GLANCY: Instead you get a lot of rage. And I totally understand where that rage comes from. But it wasn't very instructive, and it was hard to empathize with them because they were just kind of shouting at you.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "THE SIEGE")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character, speaking Arabic).

ULABY: "The Siege" is produced by The Freedom Theatre, part of an arts center based in the Jenin refugee camp. It was founded by an Israeli. Her son, the theater's first director, was shot and killed leaving the center six years ago. His murder remains¹⁵ unsolved. Nabil al-Raee says his play "The Siege" carries on the center's commitment to dialogue and understanding.

AL-RAEE: We made a play. We never brought a tank into the stage. We brought a play. This is why art is important to open the way for people to agree or disagree, negotiate, talk.

ULABY: And take part in a lively discussion that increasingly includes Arab voices on New York stages from the Tony Award-winning drama "Oslo" to the upcoming musical "The Band's Visit." Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

1 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

4 boredom   

n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊

参考例句：

• Unemployment can drive you mad with boredom.失业会让你无聊得发疯。
• A walkman can relieve the boredom of running.跑步时带着随身听就不那么乏味了。

5 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

6 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

7 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 boycotts   

（对某事物的）抵制( boycott的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Their methods included boycotts and court action, supplemented by'sit-ins". 他们的主要方法包括联合抵制、法庭起诉，还附带进行静坐抗议。
• Are boycotts for other purposes illegal? 至于用于其它目的的联合抵制行动是否也是非法的呢？

13 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

14 polemic   

n.争论，论战

参考例句：

• He launched into a fierce polemic against the government's policies.他猛烈地抨击政府的政策。
• He wrote a splendid polemic in my favour.他写了一篇出色的文章为我辩护。

15 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。