NOVEMBER 4

A heart-rending opus by acclaimed Jerusalem-based composer Danny Paller and NYTimes Jerusalem bureau staffer/researcher Myra Noveck, NOVEMBER 4 marks the 30th anniversary of an assassination that radically altered the course of history. A timely, tense, musical collision-course between the 73 year old Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin, and his 25-year-old assassin, law student, Yigal Amir, this finely melodic forensic drama, directed by Alexandra Aron, is told with an up-to-the-minute frame of reference, as a cast of five portray a variety of figures in the lives of Rabin and Amir, including the wife, granddaughter, and trusted advisor to the Prime Minister, alongside family members, the love interest, and fellow law students of the assassin, with painful present-day reflecting from two women who were close at hand when the hopes of Oslo fell apart.

As the anchor production in the latest installment of VFP’S long-running Voice From A Changing  Middle East Festival – presented this year under the banner, “How We Got Here | Where We Go Next” – NOVEMBER 4 will bring communities to commemorate and discuss Rabin’s legacy, from conflicted warrior to fearless peace builder, felled by incitement.

“These days, most people view the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as tragic, deadly, and intractable” share the Israeli co-creators. “It wasn’t always that way.  In 1993, Israel and the Palestinian Authority signed a peace agreement, and as the second phase of that agreement was being implemented, a 25-year-old law student, sabotaged it all, in one of the most successful assassinations in modern history, altering the course of history in radical fashion.  This musical explores both the political dynamics of that time and the personalities and family lives of its two protagonists – Rabin and his assassin. It raises bottom-line questions for an American audience: What happens when civil discourse breaks down and polarized groups live in their own bubbles? What difference can leaders make?  When and how can hope overcome fear?”

The drama, moving back and forth from past to present and conveyed in a range of musical styles and emotions, captures the many voices and viewpoints of this turbulent historical moment, and runs 85-90 minutes.