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Fiona Mountford's rating
Welcome to Ramallah misses the mark
By
Fiona Mountford
30 Sep 2008
There is drama to be written on the emotive topic of the Israel/Palestine conflict and the occupation of the West Bank.
Unfortunately, the poundingly overwrought Welcome to Ramallah, in which two Jewish sisters spend an evening of enforced truth-telling with a pair of Palestinian men, is not that play.
Mara and Nat and Daoud and his uncle Salim swiftly become a highly strung quartet, as writers Sonja Linden and Adah Kay crank up the tension with precision-drilled predictability.
The playwrights’ passion is admirably unquestionable, but drilling home a checklist of issues in this clumsy way does no one any favours.
The writing style is matched, in Sue Lefton’s wearying production, by much over-emphatic acting.
The debate centres around the ashes of the women’s late father, supposedly to be scattered on a kibbutz in the Galilee.
Yet this land, in Salim’s ancestral village as it naturally turns out, was appropriated by the nascent Israeli state in the conflicts of 1948.
Mara, the one with a conscience, is deeply rattled. Nat, the one with a hairdo, isn’t. The empathy is there, but the execution is somewhere far away.
Until 18 Oct 18 (020 7503 1646). “Pay what you can” tonight.
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Reader views (2)
I have to disagree with Fiona Mountfords comments... I found the acting great and the play instantly drew you into their world. It was well written with the right blend of drama and laughs to work. It portrayed the Palestinian/Israeli conflict honestly, openly and most of all... bravely. It talked about issues others shy away from, and it did it well.
Compelling, thoughtful and engaging throughout.
Well done to all involved in the production.
- Ala, York, UK, 06/11/2008 19:35
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A thoroughly enjoyable production and thought-provoking theatre. Having seen the play I left with a better understanding of the issues giving rise to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The play made 'real and relevant the impact of human rights issues on our everyday lives' and at the same time it was an excellent example of engaging theatre. The writers deserve a prize for achieving such a clear balance between the conflicting issues.
- Hans Haenlein, London UK, 04/10/2008 14:10
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