Passages to Palestine

A Touring Multi-Media Devised Theatre Performance
Conceived by Richard Glockner

As citizens of a global community, do we have humanitarian responsibilities to the innocent victims of violent conflict in another part of the world? 

What moral obligation do we have to intervene on behalf of the millions of ordinary citizens caught in the middle of horrifying political, religious and ethnic wars every single day? 

Using the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a backdrop,
the Strayer-Wood Theatre explores these questions in
Passages to Palestine. 

Passages to Palestine challenges audiences to look beyond the standard news reports of suicide bombers, failed cease fires, and raw statistics to the realities of almost constant pain and suffering endured by
people trying to go about their daily lives in the middle of a war zone.  The idea for the piece began to formulate last fall while Glockner was in the Middle East for residencies in theatres in Gaza, Hebron and Jerusalem.  “It was from those experiences that I became more aware and sensitized to the realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” says Glockner.  Upon his return to the States, he was “amazed by the lack of knowledge many of us have of the history of the conflict before the 2008 war.”  According to Eric Lange, Artistic Director of the Strayer-Wood Theatre and Head of the UNI Department of Theatre, the goal of the Passages to Palestine project is that “all involved (students, audiences, communities) become more sensitized to the costs of such conflicts to all of us in the world.”   Material for the work has been developed by Glockner and the cast from library and online research, personal interviews and existing dramatic literature from the region.

The 30-minute performances will be followed by open discussions of issues explored in the work.
Note: This presentation contains strong language and war imagery.

Passages to Palestine is available for performances in classrooms, community centers, churches and other community venues throughout the Cedar Valley through October 9th.  For more information about booking a performance, contact Eric Lange at eric.lange@uni.edu.