Boykottaufruf gegen israelisches Nationaltheater in London
Founding artistic director joins calls for Shakespeare’s Globe theatre to boycott Israeli theatre Habima
Mark Rylance, the founding artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe, has backed calls for the theatre to cancel a performance by Israeli theatre company Habima in a letter to the Guardian.
Rylance was one of 37 people to sign a letter published last Friday expressing „dismay and regret“ at the Globe’s inclusion of Habima theatre’s production of The Merchant of Venice as part of its Globe to Globe festival this May, part of the RSC-led World Shakespeare Festival.
Other signatories include the directors Mike Leigh and Jonathan Miller, playwrights Caryl Churchill and Trevor Griffiths and the actors Emma Thompson, David Calder, Harriet Walter and Miriam Margoyles.
The letter continues: „By inviting Habima, the Globe is associating itself with policies of exclusion practised by the Israeli state and endorsed by its national theatre company. We ask the Globe to withdraw the invitation so that the festival is not complicit with human rights violations and the illegal colonisation of occupied land.“
Rylance added: „Acting in the illegal settlements seems to me an act of provocation and disrespect. Surely peace will only be born when each person respects the other’s boundaries.“
Earlier this year, campaign group Boycott From Within addressed the Globe in an open letter that criticised Habima’s performances in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. A number of high-profile Israeli theatre professionals had rejected similar invitations.
In response, Shakespeare’s Globe described the festival as „a celebration of language and not … a celebration of nations and states.“
The theatre’s open letter described Habima as „the most well-known and respected Hebrew-language theatre company in the world“ and „a natural choice to any programmer wishing to host a dramatic production in Hebrew.“
Globe to Globe also includes a performance of Richard II by the Palestinian company Ashtar Theatre, who the Globe argue „have done more than any other theatre group to highlight the nature of life in the Gaza strip.“
Rylance was artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe for the decade after it opened, handing over the reigns to Dominic Dromgoole in 2005. This summer, he will perform there for the first time since stepping down, starring in revivals of all-male productions of Twelfth Night and Richard III.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2012/apr/03/mark-rylance-globe-boycott-israeli
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