ro the United Stares, where the holiday
is an excuse to have a mattress sale."
Earlier, Hare remarks that he is
searching for the passion of the
Middle East, which is missing in the
"shallow West." But when it bites
him in the rear, he just stands there.
He seems perplexed, too, when
Israelis call his Jewish wife, fashion
designer Nicole Farhi, an "assimila-
tionist." She is a survivor who as a
child spent the war hiding in a French
barn. She married a Christian, and has
a cousin who married a black and
another who wed an Arab. Hare
seems not to understand the pain of a
nation further diminished.
But he does understand the
"obscene spectacle" of Jewish settlers
"sitting around swimming pools while
Palestinians carry water around in
Jerry cans.
He looks around Hebron and says,
It occurs to me that the Jews do not
belong here. I feel the topography.
How egregious Israel must seem to
Arab eyes."
He wonders, "What right do Danny
and Sara Weiss (his American-born hosts
who live in Hebron) have to live on land
stolen by conquest?" He does not under-
stand that there are six million answers.
Before he left on his journey, Hare
expressed his reservations to his friend,
the novelist Philip Roth. Perhaps a Jew
should go, he said. Roth assured him
he was wrong.
But Roth was wrong. Filtering the
Middle East through the prism of Hare's
Christian experience tilts the rainbow
that comes out on the other side.
There are colors missing and jumbled.
Interestingly, the marketing of the
play is not jumbled at all.
Hare stands out in large blue ads, sev-
eral Israeli flags flying in the background.
Clearly the producers know which side
their New York challah is buttered on.
Yet, despite all the misconceptions
Hare may possess, Via Dolorosa is as
fascinating as it is infuriating. For a
playwright, Hare is a great actor and he
moves from his own body to the bodies
of those he "interviews" seamlessly
You may not like what he has to
say, but you'll leave the theater
remembering it. 1
Via Dolorosa is written and per-
formed by David Hare, directed
by Stephen Daldry and produced
by Lincoln Center Theater at the
Booth, 225 W. 45th St., New
York City, through June 13.
(212) 239-6200.
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403
1999
Detroit Jewish News
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