Desert Sunrise

Desert Sunrise, winner of the Andrew and Eleanor Mcglinchee Prize for a Play, uses three languages — Hebrew, Arabic and English — to weave together politics and fantasy, placing three characters, two Israeli men and a Palestinian woman in a desert wadi to spend a night with each other. The three reach into their own pasts and find not only similarities, but also begin to understand the psychological and social fabric behind their political beliefs. Over the course of the night the process of mutual understanding and forgiveness begins, halts, gets rejected, but is ultimately embraced by the pained characters. Using humor, music, poetry and dance, the play unfolds toward its sorrowful yet hopeful ending.

This TNC production, the world premiere of the play, is a collaboration between Israeli, Arab and American artists. The play highlights the plight of a group of several thousand Palestinian shepherds and farmers who live in natural caves in Jbal el Khalil, the desert hills south of Hebron. Written and directed by Misha Shulman Music by Yoel Ben Simhon