A Tiny Piece of Land, presented by Atpol Productions, continues Thurs.-Sat., 8 pm; Sun., 2 & 7 pm; through April 24. Tickets: $27.50-$32.50. Pico Playhouse, 10508 Pico Blvd., Los Angeles; 800.595.4849 or tix.com.
From its inception, A Tiny Piece of Land has been encouraged by the fates.
“Serendipitous would be the best way to describe this show; it’s quite remarkable,” says co-author and director Mel Weiser. “Coincidences that led to this show just kept happening again and again.”
A Tiny Piece of Land airs the Israel/Palestine conflict while giving the long absent Israeli perspective. The play tells the tale of an Israeli family, expelled from the Gaza strip, who is waiting for the government to place them somewhere else. When an estranged American brother comes into their lives, the family must deal with the tension and turmoil he brings into an already difficult situation.
Although the play runs at the Pico Playhouse in Los Angeles, the story of its creation begins on an unassuming night in Ashland, Oregon. Husband and wife authors Weiser and Joni Browne-Walders were visiting friends performing in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. At random, the couple picked a show to see while on their trip and left the small theater inspired with an idea for an original play.
“We saw the play My Name is Rachel Corey. It was an anti-Israel play,” says Weiser. “We talked with the owner of the theatre, Peter Alzado, and he was having difficulty getting people to see the show and wanted to have a pro-Israel view to accompany it. So I said if you want such a play, I will do it.”
Both Weiser and Browne-Walders have been deeply concerned with the situation in the Middle East for the past decade. However their concern goes beyond the conflict itself, focusing on the representation of the situation by the American media. “The media has had an unbalanced view of Israel in the last few years. There has been a lot of Israel bashing and no one is taking time to see the humanitarian actions Israel is taking,” says Weiser.
During the next six months the couple set out to do intense research, both in the library and out in the field. And what better place to research a play about Israel than in the country itself? “We interviewed cab drivers, the owner of our hotel, anyone who could give us some perspective and knowledge,” says Weiser.
One of their most poignant experiences was an interview with a married couple who lived in Nitzan, an area where many Gaza settlers have been moved. Moishe Saperstein and his wife Rachel talked about their experience being a part of the block settlements.
Saperstein asked Weiser if he wanted to see the tail of a Qassam rocket. As the man with one arm, one eye and shrapnel coating his entire body held the rocket, Weiser saw it had “Jerusalem” written on it. “See they are shooting for Jerusalem,” said Saperstein. “But it landed here.”
After tangibly witnessing the pain and tragedy people in Israel endure on a daily basis, Weiser grappled with their decision to stay in their brutal homeland. “I said to Jewish people living in Jerusalem, ‘You are living on a side of an active volcano that could erupt with ash at any moment. Why stay?’” says Weiser. Their response was uniform and resolute: “This is the one place where we are free to be Jewish.”
Cliff Smith and Robert G. Bledsoe
Although Weiser says he has lived his life feeling free to be Jewish everywhere, he could connect with the people’s deep roots to their heritage. ” Elie Wiesel once said, ‘I could not live in Israel but I could not live without it,’” says Weiser. “It’s the existence of the State of Israel that is important to the continuation of the Jewish people, whether they live there or not.”
With first-hand experience and plenty of research, Weiser and Browne-Walders headed back to the US to write. “I have written many plays before but this is the first one we have ever collaborated on,” says Weiser. “We have learned there is a process, how to synthesize and synergistically how to become bigger and better.”
After the play was finished they held a reading of it in Jerusalem as well as a workshop in Ashland with Alzado who has spurred the idea of A Tiny Piece of Land. “We had a marvelous evening and had after-show discussions and reactions to the play, which were all positive and helped us with ideas on how to strengthen it,” says Weiser.
As a full production became a reality, serendipity once again led the way to both a space and a cast. When Weiser called the Pico Playhouse for dates in April, they miraculously had only three weeks in the entire year that had not been already booked, April 8-24.
During the casting process, a casting director told Weiser he had an Israeli actress who came to America nine years ago and would be perfect for the lead woman. When Weiser met Andrea Dovner, he knew she was the perfect person for the part.
“It was really uncanny because I looked at her and it was like looking at the character I knew so well,” says Weiser. The feeling turned out to be mutual. “She told me, ‘I have been here for nine years trying to get work and after working on this piece, I know what I am doing in America.’ The other actors are Robert G. Bledsoe, Anat Gerber and Cliff Smith.”
In the process of putting together A Tiny Piece of Land, Weiser has been touched by so many people and is working relentlessly to return the favor to the audiences who come. After the play, there are post-show discussions to answer people’s questions and help them process their many emotions. These discussions are led by field professionals like the Israeli Consulate and local rabbis as well as service groups like Arabs for Israel.
“The evening promises to be one of the best and most incredible theatre experiences in its totality,” says Weiser. He says it is a humorous, heart-wrenching journey of love, courage and hope in the midst of turmoil. “We feel it is informative, educational and entertaining.”
Feature image of Anat Gerber and Andrea Dovner and story image by Halstan Williams.
Article by Greta McAnany
