The Guardian has put up a video of Caryl Churchill’s subtle, nuanced play, Seven Jewish Children, written in January this year in response to the assault on Gaza. You can also watch it here. It’ll only take ten minutes.
I’ve got tickets to see it with some friends at the Hackney Empire next month, but it’s great that loads of people will now be able to watch it on the internet.
You can download the full text for free here. And this is the statement about performing rights.
The play can be read or performed anywhere, by any number of people. Anyone who wishes to do it should contact the author’s agent, who will license performances free of charge provided that no admission fee is charged and that a collection is taken at each performance for Medical Aid for Palestinians.
Good for Caryl. If you’re not a big performer, you can donate to Medical Aid for Palestinians anyway.
Caryl Churchill is also responsible for one of the best bit of theatre I’ve ever seen – Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, which puts the politics of the English Civil War on stage. Churchill drew directly on material from the time, including the Putney Debates. Brilliant stuff.
NB – Budget follow-up on this post coming soon. Promise.
EDIT: Thursday 30 April – Youtube video now embedded, to replace static pic. Much better!
Seven Jewish Children is anti-Semitism masked as anti-Zionism. They are the same as they advocate for the destruction of the Jewish people.
The text of the play is linked in my post. Where is the part that “advocate[s] for the destruction of the Jewish people”?
No, anti-zionism is not the same as anti-semitism (anti-Jewish racism). Zionism is a political position, not an ethnicity, religion or race. Israel is a state. It does not represent all Jews, nor should all Jews be assumed to support it.
Criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza is not anti-semitic. It is criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza.
The play is not anti-semitic. It is, as I said in the original post, subtle and nuanced. It touches on many things.
Readers might be interested to have a look at this piece in the Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post. The author’s views and his take on the play are not the same as mine, but he makes some interesting points about the accusation of anti-semitism and the criticism of Israel.
Crikey, a whole 24 hours of the post being live before the first anti-semitism accusation. Sigh.
It’d be great if Mr Flatow could’ve pointed out the part in the play where the destruction of anyone was advocated. Must’ve gone right over my head.
It’s a great piece of work. I liked the careful allusions to cultural post-traumatic stress and the end was particularly powerful… I’ve forgotten the words already but the part about “Tell her I’m glad to see their dead babies… because it’s not her” is especially arresting.
Red, wonderful to have you back. Beyond that, I’m perplexed by the first comment on here. I don’t pretend to be an expert of any sort on Zionism, but it seems clear that anti-Zionism does not automatically qualify someone (or something) as anti-semitic. And the statement that anti-Zionism advocates for the destruction of the Jewish people is just…perplexing to say the least.
Yep, a whole 24 hours – and that’s for a blog with very low traffic. I have had to get a nice new comment moderation thingie in a bit of a hurry. Did I say PALESTINE?
Hello J – really nice to see you and thanks for your comment. You are right – it seems clear enough. Not everyone is keen on clarity though…