Crossing Jerusalem & Other Plays

(Paperback)

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Includes the plays Crossing Jerusalem, The Golem, Year Zero and St Joan Crossing Jerusalem describes 24 hours in the life of an Israeli family in March 2002, as they cross Jerusalem at the beginning of the latest intifada. Over this 24 hours, personal and political history burst into the present. A complex family drama explodes in the most politically tense city in the world. The Golem is inspired by the medieval Yiddish legend. This story, set in Prague, explores what happens when a monster is contructed to defend his community. This version is written for children. Year Zero is a bitter-sweet satire inspired by interviews conducted in the north of France, where Communists, Gaulists, collaborators and those who were children during the 1940s, provided the original source of material. The play exposes the day to day experiences of the men and women who suffered or profited from those zero years. Joan of Arc has, over five centuries, proved an irresistible and enduring icon for an extremely diverse group of people both within and without France. St Joan is a satire based on a Jewish Black Londoner who dreams she is the legendary Catholic Saint.

Reviews

Intriguing * Time Out (The Golem) *
A dazzling cabaret that brings tears to the cheek * The Stage (Year Zero) *
St Joan sets the heroine against a remarkable sweep of world history, wittily highlighting the paradoxes and culminating in the Parisian National Front rally of 1995 * The Stage (St Joan) *
I would rate Bernard Kops with Sen OCasey and Arthur Miller. As a poet, he ranks with the other great European poet/playwright, Federico Garca Lorca: the same passion, directness and lyrical intensity. His poems about nuclear war, about the Holocaust (in which many of his family perished) and more recently about his love for his wife Erica and his immediate family, will be remembered for their shapely form and their personal force. He is a worthy literary descendant of the First World War poet Isaac Rosenberg. * Time Out *
It is fortunate that so remarkable a man and writer has attracted so remarkable an actor * The Stage *

Author Bio

Julia Pascal's plays are edgy personal and political dramas often connected to Jewish culture and history. From British collaboration with the Nazis on the Channel Islands to current Palestinian-Israeli conflicts, they explore the complexity of the most highly-charged conflicts of our age. These texts range from dance-theatre Expressionism to naturalism and often offer large roles to women which challenge stereotypes. The plays have an international dimension. Year Zero is set in Vichy France. St Joan in London and Paris. The Dybbuk takes place in Eastern European ghetto. Crossing Jerusalem is 24 hours in the life of a Jerusalem family. Honeypot is a spy story situated in Stockholm and Paris. Styles range from cabaret to thriller. And always there is sharp dialogue that is often darkly funny as well as disturbing. The plays have been staged in the UK, the USA, Belgium, France, Germany and Sweden.