In Memoriam: Hanon Reznikov, 1950-2008 (click here)
JUNE 2008
THANKS TO ALL THOSE WHO CAME OUT TO THE THEATERS AGAINST WAR BENEFIT EVENING FOR THE THAW SCHOLARSHIP FUND!
A huge thank-you to all those who came out to THAW's benefit evening on May 20, 2008 at The Living Theatre to raise funds for the THAW 2008 Scholarships. THAW Scholarships are awarded to an artist or group of artists making theater in conflict or “post-conflict” areas. In 2007, we received nominations for theaters from Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Uganda, Rwanda, El Salvador, and Lebanon, among other places. The benefit night paid tribute to the 2007's inaugural Scholarship recipients, AL-HARAH(Palestine) and RAPSIDA (Rwanda) - see below for more information about both theaters - and raised money for this year's awards which will be given at the end of 2008. Please stay tuned for our Autumn Scholarship Gala and for information about how and when you can submit nominations for the 2008 awards!
MAY 2008
BENEFIT EVENING FOR THEATERS AGAINST WAR'S SCHOLARSHIP FUND AT THE LIVING THEATRE HONORING ARTISTS CREATING THEATER IN CONFLICT AND POST-CONFLICT AREAS
On Tuesday, May 20, THEATERS AGAINST WAR (THAW) will be hosting a benefit evening at The Living Theatre to raise funds for the THAW 2008 Scholarships. THAW Scholarships are awarded to an artist or group of artists making theater in conflict or “post-conflict” areas. In 2007, we received nominations for theaters from Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Uganda, Rwanda, El Salvador, and Lebanon. The benefit night will honor the 2007's inaugural Scholarship recipients, AL-HARAH (Palestine) and RAPSIDA (Rwanda) - see below for more information about both theaters.
The benefit night will feature live performances and video, including scenes from "The Wall" by 2007 scholarship winner Al-Harah Theater (Palestine) with actress/playwright Betty Shamieh and Brian Pickett, directed by Kareem Fahmy and scenes from "Ishuri Ryach" by 2007 scholarship winner RAPSIDA (Rwanda), performed by Okwui Okpokwasili, Candice Fortin, and Lorenzo Scott, directed by Joanie Fritz Zosike. The night will also feature a tribute to Hanon Reznikov, co-director of The Living Theatre and ardent THAW supporter, who passed away on May 3 of this year.
The THAW benefit evening takes place on Tuesday, May 20 from 8pm-10pm at The Living Theatre located at 21 Clinton Street between Houston and Stanton Street on the Lower East Side in Manhattan.
Suggested contribution is $10-$20, with a pay what you can/no one turned away policy.
The Living Theatre is accessible to people with disabilities: ring The Living Theatre at street level for elevator assistance.
Please come out and support THAW, and these courageous international artists who are working to keep art alive in war-torn and post-conflict areas of the world.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Joanie Fritz Zosike
Tel: 646.207.7341
Email: jhiegerzosike@nyc.rr.com
DECEMBER 2007
First Annual
THAW Scholarships Awarded
and Appeal for 2008 Scholarship Fund
Starting this year, Theaters Against War has created two annual THAW “scholarships” -- one in the amount of $1,000 and another for $500 -- awarded to an artist or group of artists making theatre in conflict or “post-conflict”. Nominations can be made from anywhere in the world where there is a conflict, be it military, racial, economic, etc. For 2007, we received nominations for theater artists working in Afghanistan, El Salvador, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Rwanda, and Uganda, as well as on behalf of theater artists working with immigrant day laborers in California and with a women's theater located in an economically depressed area of northern England. All of this year's nominees are extremely courageous and incredibly creative theater artists working in some of the world's most dangerous places, dealing with some of the most dire situations in an attempt to create art and exploring some of the most urgent issues facing humanity: war, military occupation, HIV/AIDS, forced exile, immigration, the forced military conscription of children, and economic injustice.
It is truly an honor for THAW to award the $1,000 grant to the Al-Harah Theater Company based in Beit Jala, in the occupied West Bank of Palestine and the $500 award to RAPSIDA based in Kigali, Rwanda.
Al Harah, which means “the neighborhood,” is a group of actors, playwrights and directors who came together in 2005 to create theatre in the dire conditions created by military occupation. In addition to producing theatre “that has the potential to change the lives of the people who make it and the people who watch it,” it is also the group’s goal to establish the very first theatre college in Palestine. To this end, Al Harah promotes the use of a theatre arts curriculum in Palestinian schools and facilitates training workshops in drama for youth organizers and social workers from around the West Bank.
In submitting Al Harah for the THAW scholarship, nominator Suzana Berger wrote, “Al Harah’s dedication to supporting Palestinian youth who are growing up in an environment of terrible uncertainty is unwavering and inspiring. They created the piece I saw them perform [in Beit Jala] at the request of educators who contacted them saying that students were coming to school traumatized and needed some kind of outlet to help them cope with the violence around them…In the face of relentless political turmoil, oppression, and bloodshed, the artists of Al Harah Theater remain generous, imaginative and focused on creating theatre that speaks to their community.”
Part of a growing movement of community-based theatre artists in Palestine, Al Harah sees their work in a larger socio-political context: “by promoting theater arts in Palestine we assist in building a civil society that emphasizes human rights, democracy and pluralism.”
You can read more about Al Harah and see photos of their work at www.alharah.org
RAPSIDA (Rwandans and Americans in Partnership Contre le SIDA) is based in Kigali, Rwanda. War in Africa comes in many forms, and yet there is a reluctance on the part of the Western world to get involved in the struggles of African nations torn by war. Witness Rwanda, Darfur, Liberia, the Sudan. HIV/AIDS in Rwanda, as in much of Sub-Saharan Africa, remains a tragic byproduct of war, and a critical challenge. Infection rates increased as a result of the 1994 Genocide and preceding civil war, and specifically with the use of sexual violence, including rape, as a method of the genocide. Yet, the fight against HIV is, ironically, also an opportunity. Rwandans are now working together to fight back against the spread of this disease and to support people living with HIV/AIDS, and, in the process, creating a more harmonious and healthy society.
RAPSIDA is the HIV Prevention and Anti-Discrimination program of Rwandans & Americans in Partnership (RAP). RAPSIDA uses innovative drama and music, the visual arts, and peer education to spread knowledge about HIV/AIDS and change the way people think about the disease. RAPSIDA aims to counteract emotional barriers to change, enabling people to put knowledge into practice, prevent the spread of HIV and stop discrimination against those living with HIV/AIDS. One of RAPSIDA's core programs is engaging youth in prevention activities through theatre clubs in secondary schools. To develop the idea of a play, students interview members of the community who are living with HIV/AIDS. Then, the plays are used as a platform to highlight the humanity and productivity of people living with HIV/AIDS in a variety of ways, including employing them as actors, seamstresses, cooks (for the special meals used to reward the actors for their hard work).
"The THAW grant is such an honor for us to receive, knowing who is giving it and the brave efforts of theatre artists in struggling nations throughout the world. The THAW scholarship couldn't come at a better time, as we have donors who give us restricted money. We have school fees to pay for some of our theatre club members who are from the associations of people living with HIV, and this will help build our capacity to do that. So many thanks for your support!" --Jesse Hawkes, Program Director
For more information on Rapsida, please see www.rapsida.blogspot.com
SPECIAL NOTE: Sadly and frustratingly, we were unable to make contact with the two Iraqi theater nominations – the Baghdad National Theater and Fadhil Abbas, the Director of the Hibako Allah Center. As a matter of urgency, for next year's 2008 award, we would be grateful for the help of any of you who might be working with Iraqi theater artists, as our ability to communicate with theater artists in Iraq has proven to be so very daunting.
Please consider making an end-of-the-year holiday contribution to next year's 2008 scholarship fund. Even a very small Holiday Gift will be a great help and will be earmarked specifically for the THAW 2008 theater scholarships. To donate, please make a check out to Theaters Against War and mail to:
Theaters Against War
c/o Carmelina Cartei
The Women and Gender Studies Program
Room 1738 Hunter West
Hunter College (CUNY)
695 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10021
An Open Letter Concerning the Recent Occurrences of Censorship
April 2007
Last month a group of public high school students in Wilton, Connecticut were told by their principal that they could not perform “Voices in Conflict,” a play they wrote based on the words of soldiers serving in Iraq because it could be construed as “anti-war” and might upset the audience. Principal Timothy Canty went on to suggest that the students didn’t “know enough” and didn’t have the right to speak about the war. Within the same month at John Jay High School in Lewisboro, New York, three student actors were suspended because they dared to use the word 'vagina' in their reading of the critically acclaimed play, "The Vagina Monologues." Their principal, Richard Leprine, said the girls were punished because they had “disobeyed orders” in speaking the word. More recently, recalling the controversy of last year at the New York Theater Workshop, the board of the Mosiac Theatre in Miami has announced that the scheduled production of “My Name is Rachel Corrie” will be pulled from their season, despite a committed artistic team and seeming popular support. A subsequent press release from the theater cited objections from an impassioned, vocal minority in the community. Isolated, these occurrences might reflect local discomfort about a particular issue. But viewed as part of the political landscape of today’s America, these cancellations cease to be isolated events. Rather, they highlight a frightening reality- that in today’s climate of atrophied public discourse, artists are increasingly subject to censorship based on the content of their work. James Presson, a 16 year old actor in “Voices of Conflict” told the New York Times, “Our school is all about censorship. People don’t talk about the things that matter.” Sadly, this problem goes well beyond the walls of a Connecticut high school. Indeed, this silence on “things that matter” has pervaded even the most respected of cultural and educational institutions. That an artist of any age or medium is under pressure to create work devoid of critical questioning about the most important of issues is not only alarming for the artist but indeed for society as a whole. Noted U.S. Historian Howard Zinn has said this of the relationship between the artist and society: “It is the job of the artist to think outside the boundaries of permissible thought and dare say things that no one else will say.” Many celebrated artists have dared to do just this, just as many artists today continue to pursue work that challenges the social and political workings of our time. We recognize this as bright light in a dark age. But that vital political artwork can so easily be canceled by an uneasy administration or board of directors is of great concern. Of course, what Principal Canty and others may not realize is that in trying to silence his students, he may have had the opposite effect. Indeed we hope so. But while these instances of censorship may serve to galvanize some to speak even louder, the restrictive thinking behind the censorship persists and if not challenged, threatens to take firmer hold in our society. As we face the possibility of censorship in our own work, let us remember the importance of the oppositional voice in the arts- robbed of this, the artist risks becoming a mere jester, a mouth piece for an oppressive dominant culture. We recognize that certain powers will always have an eye on the artist, wanting to keep her confined to a corner, safely removed and politically benign. We recognize this and we resist this. We stand by our fellow artists and arts producers who, be they high school students or seasoned veterans, exhibit great courage in creating bold political work that challenges the way we think and operate. And we challenge those who have not been so courageous to be so now.
In Solidarity,
Theaters Against War
www.thawaction.org
CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR SIGN-ON LETTER TO
THE MOSAIC THEATER'S BOARD OF DIRECTORS
CONTACT US TO BE ADDED TO THE LETTER: thawaction@yahoo.com
Listings of anti-war/pro-peace shows currently running
in New York City — click the Community tab above!
DYING CITY @ Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center
IN DARFUR @ The Public Theater • THE GREEN GAME @ Theater 3
1918: A HOUSE DIVIDED @ Theater for the New City
BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO @ The Lark Theater
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