In 1492, as schoolchildren used to learn, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. In Jewish history, as in the history of North American First Nations, 1492 stands out as a blue year for other reasons.
That year is remembered as the end of a golden age of Jewish civilization and multicultural amity in Iberia. The Jews of Spain (and, later in the same decade, the Jews of Portugal) were ordered to leave their homeland. In truth, the so-called golden age had ended for Jews more than 200 years earlier. The succeeding centuries had seen increasing levels of isolation, repression, exploitation, impoverishment, humiliation and violence, including notorious massacres in 1366 and 1391. Thousands of Jews had been forcibly converted, but even these “conversos” were not accepted as “true” Christians and were subject to pogroms perhaps as violent as any suffered by those who did not give up their Jewish ways. Spanish Jews were required to distinguish themselves by wearing a yellow badge. But, by 1492, it was determined that the proximity of conversos to their former co-religionists was causing recidivism. As in so many parallel instances, it was also no doubt a factor that Jews were evicted with few of their possessions, which were left to enrich the monarchs. And so the Jews were expelled, the departure slated for the day before Tisha b’Av.
In what appears to be a genuine effort at righting an historical wrong, the Spanish government announced recently plans to offer citizenship to Jews who can prove their Sephardi ancestry back to the expulsions. Lawyers in Israel and elsewhere are fielding calls by the score from people hoping to obtain Spanish citizenship, which, of course, also grants entry to the European Union as a whole.
The officials who are spearheading the drive to welcome back Spain’s Jewish descendants may believe that they are providing a permanent resolution, as best as can be done five centuries on, to a grave injustice. But perhaps they lack the breadth of knowledge of Jewish history to know the pattern into which their generosity falls.
Generation after generation, in duchies, principalities, city-states and empires throughout Europe, Jews in one generation would be exploited for economic advantage by the ruler then forced out when their economic usefulness was drained, only to be welcomed back when a new generation of leaders smelled economic advantage. Then, almost invariably, the cycle would begin again.
While this occurred in instances too many to count, yet in ways astonishingly alike each time, the expulsion from Spain stood out in Jewish history. Until the grievous experiences of 20th-century Europe, the expulsion from Spain was held up as the darkest example of the perils of Jewish statelessness since the destruction of the Temple.
There is little doubt that the current initiative by the Spanish government is being approached in a spirit of fraternity and justice. But it also has to be noted that the European economy overall, and those of southern European states like Spain in particular, are at their worst in a generation. It was precisely at times like these in history when a duke or prince would decide that it was an advantageous time to welcome back the Jews that his grandfather or great-grandfather had forced from the realm. The Jews of Europe, always seeking a place where they may find some peace and a welcome, would flow back in, experience a period of well-being followed inevitably by economic, political and religious oppression, followed by another expulsion.
Surely, this is not what the good legislators of Spain are thinking as they make this invitation. But Jewish people with a better sense of history can certainly be forgiven for seeing this act of generosity in a broader historical context.
Congregation Beth Israel’s former parking lot will be replaced by an underground parking garage with a 200-vehicule capacity. The roof will be an interconnected series of courtyards. (photo from Beth Israel)
This September, when construction is complete and Congregation Beth Israel reopens at Oak and 28th, Vancouver’s oldest Conservative synagogue will join a very special Vancouver membership. The structure will be on the city’s list of green buildings.
Vancouver is pushing to become the world’s greenest city by 2020 and, this year, it began phasing in bylaw changes that would require both residential and commercial construction projects to integrate more environmentally friendly features into their infrastructure. For BI, this means a building that uses less electricity, more natural resources like sunlight and outdoor carbon-reducing green spaces and, wherever possible, partners with neighborhood facilities to reduce energy usage.
BI executive director Shannon Etkin told the Independent that the congregation has known for a couple of decades that it would have to replace the 65-year-old building. “The air conditioning system was shot, the plumbing and electrical systems were very old and outdated and subject to continuous breakdowns, [and] the roof was well past its best-before date,” he said.
In addition to its age and the environmental concerns, the structure no longer fit the needs of the synagogue’s membership.
“We also wanted a space large enough [where] all of the congregation could be under one roof at High Holy Days instead of having to have a second service, or an alternative service for other people because we didn’t have space for them in our main building.”
“The spaces weren’t designed for the way we work with our congregation now,” said Etkin. “We also wanted a space large enough [where] all of the congregation could be under one roof at High Holy Days instead of having to have a second service, or an alternative service for other people because we didn’t have space for them in our main building. We didn’t have lounge spaces for people to gather informally. Some of the rooms were too small and some of the rooms were too big. The auditorium was not large enough for many families who wanted to have functions at the synagogue.”
The new building, said Etkin, will be attractive, as well as serve the needs of the 600-family congregation. “We are going to have a beautiful sanctuary…. It will feel intimate for various-sized numbers of people attending services,” he said, adding that the social hall will be able to accommodate larger wedding and other simchah receptions.
As well, people who want to sit and shmooze after services or while waiting for a class or a presentation will be able to do so. “We have informal spaces for people to lounge in and be able to talk to one another, [and] we will have new technology allowing us to project images in different rooms, a sound system, all those different things we didn’t have in the previous building,” explained Etkin.
BI Rabbi Jonathan Infeld said the changes will make a big difference to the atmosphere and functionality of the synagogue. “One of the other critical components of the building is lighting. The new sanctuary will have a skylight and lighting that will make the whole place bright. Dim, dark lighting like we had in our old building is depressing. Brighter lights are more uplifting and spiritually enhancing,” said the rabbi.
“The building will be extremely friendly for those with physical challenges,” he added. “Not just the bimah, which will be extremely accessible for someone with physical challenges, but washrooms as well.” And, he noted, “[The] heater will work in the winter, and the air conditioner will work in the summer, and not vice versa.”
Gary Averbach, left, and Shannon Etkin at the kick-off of Beth Israel’s capital campaign in May 2011. (photo from Beth Israel)
Despite all of the environmental improvements, Infeld said the congregation has decided not to seek LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification through the Canadian Green Building Council, as doing so would cost upwards of another $100,000, and the congregation feels the money could be better spent on projects within the synagogue. However, the new building’s environmental features would allow it to apply for a gold rating as a LEED building. For example, Metro Vancouver’s design guide for LEED buildings points out that using daylight to enhance the brightness of the building’s interior is not only appealing, but energy efficient. Properly applied, it can reduce electricity usage and heating bills – as can the design of the overall structure.
In fact, said Mark Ostry, principal architect at Acton Ostry Architects, Inc. – the new building’s designer – many of the esthetic and functional changes will provide environmental benefits, including the congregation’s decision to keep the building’s original frame; a decision that was also a nod to its 82-year history (the congregation was incorporated in 1932 and completed the structure in 1949).
“Roughly 60 percent of the building area has been accommodated in the original building,” said Ostry. According to a 2012 study by Preservation Green Lab, an arm of the U.S. National Trust for Historic Preservation, construction retrofits that emphasize green techniques are often easier on the environment than new construction.
Ostry said they are also looking into BI joining a district energy system (DES) that would be run by the nearby B.C. Women’s and Children’s hospitals complex. Hooking up to a DES would mean that BI could reduce energy usage further. Shaughnessy Hospital introduced an earlier version that shared service with the Oak Street hospital complex back in the 1980s, and the proposed DES upgrade would allow BI to benefit from that network.
Ostry said other environmentally beneficial features include the landscaping that is going to serve as the roof to a shared underground parking lot.
“This [will allow] the synagogue to be wrapped with a network of interconnected courtyards,” said Ostry. “In addition to promoting biodiversity, the soft-planted landscaping contributes to storm water management…. Equally important, these courtyards establish a strong connection between the synagogue and the outside. Landscape areas have been designated to accommodate a gaga pit, chuppah, sukkah, outdoor services and various informal activities – all of which enhance the meaningfulness of the natural world in Judaism.”
BI’s reconstruction started in 2012 and, according to Etkin, it is expected to be complete in time for this year’s High Holy Day services. Almost all of the funding has been raised through donations, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver has contributed for a preparatory security review. He said the support from both congregation members and the larger community is what has allowed the redevelopment to move forward. With only $2 million of the targeted $18 million cost still to raise, BI’s new home is almost complete. And, in this new home, the “building will finally face east, toward Jerusalem,” said Infeld. It has been a long-term goal and, now, he said, “It will finally be correct.”
Since last year’s Chutzpah! Festival, the Jewish Independent has been waiting to see Noah Drew’s Tiny Music. The read-through in 2013 was a unique experience of a work-in-progress, and it will be fun to compare that “teaser” with the production that takes to the Rothstein Theatre stage later this month as part of this year’s Chutzpah!
“This play has actually been slow-cooking for almost 10 years,” Drew told the Independent in an e-mail interview. “In 2004, the fabulous actor/writer Josh Epstein approached me about writing and composing a musical together. We jammed on ideas, and decided to adapt a short story by Sholem Aleichem called The Fiddle, which I’d been very fond of growing up. At my grandparents’ house, I used to listen to a record of the great Howard Da Silva reading Aleichem’s stories accompanied by a klezmer band, and The Fiddle was one of my favorites: a dark fable in which a boy who’s obsessed with music is forbidden to have anything to do with it, but can’t help himself, to his family’s ruin. Josh and I wrote a few songs and scenes about a boy in the Old Country who was born with unusually large and dexterous hands – a violin prodigy. Some of the material was great, but then, life happened – Josh booked a big show in Toronto and moved there, and shortly afterwards I got a full scholarship to do my MFA in acting at Temple University in Philadelphia, and also moved east. Every once in awhile, Josh and I would connect and talk about working on the show, but it never quite happened.
“Then, in 2010, I was visiting my friend Sarah Shugarman (a wonderful musician in Toronto) and ended up unearthing one of the songs I’d written for the Fiddle project. When I read her the lyrics, she was effusive in her praise and excitement, and encouraged me to reopen the piece. We talked about co-composing, but in the end the scheduling and geography didn’t cooperate (I had completed my degree and moved back to Vancouver by this point) so I decided to push forward with the project alone.”
At the heart of Tiny Music is Ezra, described in the Chutzpah! program as “an autistic man with an auditory-processing disorder that heightens his experience of the sounds around him.” About the writing of such a character, Drew explained that, around the time he re-committed himself to the play, he was “spending a fair amount of time with two members of my family – one adult and one child – who are on the autism spectrum. I also had a private acting student who was autistic. I noticed that all three of these individuals had certain challenges, particularities and special abilities when it came to focusing, and that all three seemed to have a very strong relationship to music. Music has always been incredibly important in my life also, and I was finding nice connections with my autistic family members through listening to and/or playing music together. I conceived of a contemporary version of the Sholem Aleichem story with an autistic man who hears in an extraordinary way at the play’s centre.”
Drew said he wrote a handful of songs and a first draft. “A two-day script workshop in Montreal in January 2013 led me to a second draft of the script, which was presented as a reading in the 2013 Chutzpah! Festival,” he said. “That reading was a bit of a whirlwind – we had only the one day to rehearse – but it was a good opportunity to see how the story was working (and where it wasn’t) and to hear a few of the songs with piano and voice. I learned from that reading that some aspects of the characters and story were really working, but others were a bit superficial and/or clunky.
“I went back into the writing process and, in October 2013, the show’s director/dramaturg Jamie Nesbitt and musical director Yawen Wang came out to Montreal to join me, sound designer Joe Browne and eight Concordia theatre and music students for a six-day workshop of the piece. That was a fantastic process! In addition to further developing the script and story, we got to explore the most important question of the piece stylistically: how can we make the songs, story, instrumental music and sound design all work together as a cohesive whole? We did some wonderful experiments, played around with ways of combining the elements and made discoveries such as: in this show, sometimes a sound cue or instrumental moment could actually replace dialogue. The script, music and sound all moved forward a couple of drafts. The characters were becoming more three-dimensional. The music was becoming more contemporary (‘less Sondheim and more Bjork’). The unique world of the show was coming into focus.”
Rethinking the storytelling
At this point, however, Drew and Nesbitt – co-founders of Jump Current, the producer of Tiny Music – noticed a “significant problem with the script.”
“Although the show is experienced from the perspective of an autistic individual, the storytelling mode was still quite ‘neurotypical,’” explained Drew. “Ezra had monologues in which he explained his situation and point of view to the audience in a very linear, chronological way. But the more I read and spoke to people about the range of autistic experiences, the more I realized that this linear way of speaking and thinking didn’t feel right. At Jamie’s urging, I took the script apart, and re-imagined it as a world in which time and memory are at times fluid, fragmented and unpredictable. Now, in the language, sound, music and staging, we are finding rhythms, patterns and textures that feel more true to who Ezra is. Rather than just describing and showing the story of this unique individual, we are figuring out how to invite the audience to share his visceral experience.”
This is what makes Tiny Music not just a regular, run-of-the-mill musical.
A sound design musical
“I call Tiny Music a ‘sound design musical’ because I want the audience to spend 90 minutes really hearing through Ezra’s ears,” explained Drew. “For Ezra, tiny details of the sonic environment that might go unnoticed by most people are very vivid. Sometimes, these details might mesmerize him. At other moments, they might overwhelm him. And sometimes, he hears the patterns in things so vividly that mundane sounds coalesce and occur for him as music. So, the songs in Tiny Music don’t just happen because, hey, it’s a musical. Instead, we only have songs because either (a) it makes sense that another character would actually be singing to Ezra in a certain situation, or (b) Ezra’s internal experience of certain sound patterns ends up transforming non-musical sounds into a kind of song. And, there are many times in the show – even some pieces I’ve called a ‘number’ – when nobody actually sings. Instead, it’s more like the environment itself that sings … all the sounds on all the floors of the building he’s in combine to make a kind of ‘sound design song,’ or a the voice of a person who is just speaking warps and distorts in Ezra’s perception, becoming rhythmic and harmonic. Every sound can be a kind of music if you really listen.”
The producers: Jump Current
Tiny Music is but one of several projects that Jump Current is currently producing, despite its relatively recent appearance on the theatre scene. “Very close friends who have led kind of parallel lives for awhile now,” Drew and Nesbitt started the company last spring. Of the reasons for the collaboration, Drew said, “We’re both fairly well known in Canada as theatre designers (he for video projections and I for sound), but we both consider ourselves to be theatre artists in a much broader way than only design. In fact, we both are suspicious of the way that sometimes design tricks and flash can get in the way of real, organic moments of storytelling in the theatre. (Also, as it happens, Jamie and I are both married to yoga teachers who used to work as actors, who are now studying to be expressive arts therapists – go figure.)
“In 2012, Jamie got very involved in working on Tiny Music, and I started working as a dramaturg on a play he’s writing called Salamandra (which is based on the true story of his inheriting a 150-bedroom castle in Poland from his great-uncle, Poland’s former minister of war, and his great-aunt, a former Polish movie star). Because we were doing these two projects together, and because our views about theatre, politics and life are so aligned, we decided to start a company together.
“In addition to creating and producing works of theatre and media-based performance,” he continued, “Jump Current’s mission is to research, develop and champion uses of design and technology that illuminate live human-to-human connection, and counteract people’s sense of alienation from one another. We believe deeply that, although, of course, it’s true that we live in an age when technology can really separate people from direct, organic connection, there are ways that it can also facilitate a shared experience of wonder that can really unite people.”
Another project that Drew and Nesbitt are developing is The Riot Ballet, “which explores themes of crowd psychology, identity and protest – both peaceful and violent,” said Drew. “We recently participated in a two-week development process in Barcelona, which led to some really exciting material and ideas. The team is amazing – this project brings us together with fantastic theatre companies from Spain, Colombia, the U.S., and a dance company from Toronto. We’re aiming for a late 2015 or early 2016 première in the U.S., then dates in Canada and Europe.”
All of this is in addition to Drew being a tenure-track faculty member in the theatre department of Montreal’s Concordia University, his continued freelancing in sound design and his voice teaching work. One of his sound design projects, he told the Independent, is for Horseshoes and Hand Grenades’ production of This Stays in the Room, which will be performed at Gallery Gachet in Vancouver March 19-30.
About his full schedule, Drew said, “I feel very grateful that my years as a full-time freelancer and the demanding process of doing an MFA really helped me develop good time-management skills! But, when it’s all amazing, a busy life is a pleasure. Sometimes, when things get a little too intense, my wife and I look at each other and say, ‘At least it’s not boring!’ We’re usually smiling.”
Tiny Music takes place Feb. 25 and 26, 8 p.m., at the Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre. It stars Anton Lipovetsky, Susinn McFarlen, Caitriona Murphy and Bob Bossin, with musicians Yawen Wang (piano and accordion), Joe Browne (live electronics), Caitriona Murphy (violin), Mike Braverman (clarinet), Jodi Proznick (bass) and Jason Overy (drums). There is a post-performance talk-back on Feb. 25. For tickets, visit chutzpahfestival.com, call 604-257-5145 or 604-684-2787, or drop in to the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver.
Six-year-old Yosef Nider has been playing the violin for two years. On Wednesday, Feb. 26, 10 a.m., in the gymnasium at Vancouver Hebrew Academy, he makes his concert debut. Yosef will play a recital in honor of his beloved Zaida, Marvin Nider, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in February 2013.
Concert for a Cure will raise money for the B.C. Cancer Foundation. Yosef’s mother, Elizabeth Nider, said the idea for the fundraiser came about organically. “Yosef and I were talking about tzedakah one night before bedtime and he asked me if we’re only supposed to give tzedakah to people who don’t have enough money for food and clothing and I said, no, we can give tzedakah to many other places, such as schools, aquariums, scientists or doctors who look for cures for diseases,” Nider told the Independent. “And then, Yosef asked me what kind of diseases, so I gave an example of cancer and he right away said, ‘I want to give all of my tzedakah to cancer scientists so that they can find a cure for Zaida.’ I told him how that was a very nice idea and cancer scientists need lots of tzedakah because they have lots of experiments and testing to do. Then, a few days later, in the car, Yosef announced, ‘Mommy, I want to make a fundraiser for cancer scientists.’ (I’m still not sure where he got the word ‘fundraiser’ from.) And when I asked him what he wants to do, he said, ‘Have a violin concert.’
“At first, he said that he wanted to have the concert at the place where the Cavalia show is held, but I told him it might not work because it’s probably just for Cavalia. Then I told him I’d do some thinking and get back to him and finally we decided that having the concert at Vancouver Hebrew Academy would be best, because other kids could attend and perhaps get inspired to fundraise for organizations or causes that they are passionate about, as well. And here we are.”
The relationship between a grandparent and any of their grandchildren can be close, but sometimes an eldest grandchild holds a special place in a grandparent’s heart. Yosef, his two siblings, Ephraim and Sari, and their Zaida have the added benefit of living in the same city and the opportunity to develop a closeness that comes from more regular interaction.
“Not to generalize but, generally, zaidas have more fun with older kids since there is more to do with them. Not to mention, Yosef and Marvin have a lot in common: they both love skiing, building, wood working and playing with Lego. They have been doing these things together for a few years and, because Yosef loves to ask questions and Marvin loves to answer them, they’ve gotten to be quite a pair.”
“Yosef is the first grandchild, which makes him the oldest grandchild, which means that he has more exciting things to do with his Zaida,” noted Nider. “Not to generalize but, generally, zaidas have more fun with older kids since there is more to do with them. Not to mention, Yosef and Marvin have a lot in common: they both love skiing, building, wood working and playing with Lego. They have been doing these things together for a few years and, because Yosef loves to ask questions and Marvin loves to answer them, they’ve gotten to be quite a pair.”
Yosef takes lessons in the Suzuki method with a private teacher and he has been spending time specifically on his recital repertoire ahead of the concert later this month, said Nider. “Yosef practises every day except Shabbat and that hasn’t actually changed; he is still practising the same amount. He is, however, practising with his violin teacher more on the songs for the concert and not learning any new pieces for now. He is also meeting with [clarinetist and community member] Connie Gitlin … and they are practising to play together.”
Families approach illness and sharing sad news with their youngest members in various ways, but Nider said she felt clear that she should share the news about her father-in-law’s prognosis with her eldest son, a choice she feels fits with her family’s orientation towards life. “First and foremost, where I get all of my ideas and strength is from living a Torah-based life,” she explained. “We, as Jews, have been blessed with a blueprint for life. It says right in the Torah how to deal with difficult situations … so my ideas are certainly not original by any means. I have found tremendous strength from the belief that Hashem runs the world [and] we are never in control.
“I know that this idea has trickled down to our kids without us even realizing it; I know this because the day after we found out about Marvin’s diagnosis, my husband [Jeff] was in shul with Yosef and my husband was having a hard time focusing so he had to leave. My husband told me that Yosef looked up at him and, seeing tears in his father’s eyes, he said simply, ‘Abba, everything happens for the good.’ Yosef knows that there is a greater plan and that we are not usually privy to the reasons why things happen and when. Just this fact alone is essential in dealing with any kind of difficulty, whether illness or otherwise. I also can honestly say Jeff and I are extremely thankful that in Yosef’s school there is no shortage of educators, from preschool to head of school, who believe these same beliefs [and] teach children these values from the get-go. So, what I teach my child at home is hugely supported at school and I have found that these two factors greatly increase Yosef’s appreciation for why things happen, both good and bad, and how we can’t always explain the reasons.
“Personally, I believe that explaining in simple terms what is happening is helpful in keeping children from being afraid. If they understand what cancer is, for example, then there will likely be less fear because it makes sense and it is not a secret.”
“Another aspect that I have found to be effective is being open. Personally, I believe that explaining in simple terms what is happening is helpful in keeping children from being afraid. If they understand what cancer is, for example, then there will likely be less fear because it makes sense and it is not a secret.”
Yosef’s original fundraising goal for the B.C. Cancer Foundation “was $1,000 and he surpassed that goal in less than 24 hours of word getting out about Concert for a Cure,” said Nider. At press time, Yosef had surpassed $6,500 and his new goal was $10,000. The Feb. 26 concert was sold out.
“It’s incredible to see this level of support,” Nider said. “People who don’t even know Marvin but just know Yosef have donated, and vice versa. We didn’t realize it, but the creation of Concert for a Cure has become something of a small piece of joy amidst all of the daily stress and worry that is affecting our family. Marvin and Barbara (Yosef’s Bubby) check the donation website often and it’s giving them nachas to feel supported by friends, family and people who they don’t even know but who believe in this cause.”
Meanwhile, Yosef is also a regular six-year-old. His favorite subjects at school are art and math. Asked what is the best (and worst!) thing about playing the violin, Yosef said that the best thing is “that people listen and that it’s fun.” And the worst? “When people say ‘encore.’” Sorry to say, Yosef, chances are that’s exactly what you’ll be hearing on the 26th – and a hearty bravo.
On Sunday, more than 200 adults and children converged on King David High School for the first annual Limmud Vancouver. Limmud is a global phenomenon celebrating Jewish learning and experiences in their most diverse and unexpected forms. Now occurring in scores of cities worldwide, each event is unique and driven by local volunteers.
Vancouver’s first foray into the Limmud experience was not only apparently flawless in execution (with 42 presentations in multiple rooms, with hundreds of participants, any number of things could go wrong – if they did, they were invisible to the average participant) but also as a model of community in its purest sense.
Limmud was brought to Vancouver by Ruth Hess-Dolgin, z”l, whose vision and passion outlives her. After her passing, her dream was taken up by her husband Avi Dolgin and friend Betty Nitkin, who corralled dozens of volunteers to deliver a truly remarkable event. Some community organizations supported it, but Limmud was led, driven and delivered by volunteers acting in no capacity except their dedication to the idea of learning in ways that are “non-denominational, multi-generational and truly transformational.” The buzz around the event was so intense that it sold out weeks in advance, which was perhaps the only disappointment of the day; that so many who would have liked to were unable to attend.
Limmud is founded on a philosophy that everyone is a teacher and everyone is a learner. When they were not presenting on their own topics, presenters were participating in lively sessions with others. Titles – rabbi, doctor, professor – went out the window.
The sessions were as diverse as the attendees. Experiential sessions included Jewish chanting, the music of Uganda’s Jews, and singing along in Yiddish. Ethical and spiritual issues confronted included organ and tissue donation, reflections on the Shema, the Ten Commandments and whether God has gender. Historical themes included religious tolerance in the Middle Ages, klezmer music in early-20th-century Montreal, what caused the death of Jesus, and the Nazis’ policies on reproduction. There was a presentation on how Jews should treat people who transition to Judaism from other religions and Jews who transition from one gender to the other.
In the breaks between sessions, the hallways were filled with traditional and untraditional Jewish musical performances. People were able to unwind in a crafts room. Children were tended but also treated to family-oriented programming of music, art and a session on how to be grateful and what it means.
For those who attended, Limmud provided countless opportunities to reflect on our inner selves, our communities, our world. And perhaps the most important lesson of the day was that this kind of an event does not require the mobilization of organizations and institutions. It was envisioned by a single woman, whose spirit and enthusiasm inspired hundreds of individuals to share her passion for Jewish experiential learning. It was the model of how a single individual, even when she was there only in spirit, could significantly enrich our community.
Richard Newman as Dr. Sigmund Freud, left, and Damon Calderwood as C.S. Lewis. (photo by Damon Calderwood and Chris Robson)
When the air-raid siren goes off, it is hard not to heed it, and seek cover. So engaged does one become in Freud’s Last Session, which is on until Sunday at Galbraith House in New Westminster.
The house is an impressive sight. Built circa 1892, the 30ish audience members are already transported into the past by the time they walk through the front doors. As they take their seats in the living room, literally within breathing distance of the action, the set brings them into the late 1930s – Freud’s wooden desk to the left (that, notably, is covered with divinity statuettes from various cultures), a console radio flanked by two leather chairs in the centre, and the psychiatrist’s couch on the right.
Presented by City Stage New West, the Couch Trip Collective production features veteran actors Richard Newman as Dr. Sigmund Freud and Damon Calderwood as British author C.S. Lewis. In such an intimate space, with such competent actors delivering the dialogue, it is almost a voyeuristic experience. Director Chris Robson keeps the pacing tight, and the sound effects – from the radio, to a ringing phone, to a barking dog, to the aforementioned air-raid siren and rumbling plane engines – add to the immediacy.
Freud has asked Lewis to his home, and the fictional meeting is taking place on Sept. 3, 1939, the day that Britain declares war on Germany. Snippets of Neville Chamberlain’s address and of King George VI’s are played on the radio, as Freud periodically interrupts his discussion with Lewis for updates on the news.
Lewis is nervous at first because he thinks Freud has summoned him out of anger for how Freud is portrayed in Lewis’ Pilgrim’s Regress. But Freud is more interested in why an intelligent man like Lewis went from being an atheist to embracing Christianity. Their brief conversation gets heated on more than one occasion. Freud is particularly impassioned at times, not only from the strength of his beliefs, but from the exhaustion and frustration of being in constant pain – at 83, he is dying of oral cancer, and the play quite realistically depicts his agony, and the goriness of the disease.
The debate starts with God’s existence, and bounces back to it more than once, but covers a wide range of topics, including the impending war (and Freud’s narrow escape to England from Austria), morality, shame, desire, humor, what is now known as post-traumatic stress disorder, Jesus, the afterlife, ancient belief systems, suicide, relationships, sex and music. The play avoids becoming bogged down in heavy, philosophical dialogue by only touching upon each topic. An interruption happens – a phone call, a coughing attack, or what have you – after which the discussion generally turns to something else. Another perhaps surprising aspect of Freud’s Last Session is that the script, written by Mark St. Germain, contains many well-timed witty remarks that break up the seriousness of the subject matter, as well as the situation – both the advent of the Second World War and Freud’s intention to kill himself before the cancer does. The result is a play that may not change minds, but it will spark contemplation and discussion, which is more than enough.
Freud’s Last Session is at Galbraith House, 131 Eighth St., New Westminster, until Feb. 9. For tickets, visit brownpapertickets.com/event/549655.
This February, the Cultch, in partnership with Western Front New Music, is presenting a unique show, Music from the New Wilderness, curated by D.B. Boyko. This original performance incorporates archival wax cylinder recordings from the Okanagan, recent field recordings from the Broughton Archipelago, new musical and voice compositions and much more.
One of the six primary participants is electro-acoustic composer from Montreal Adam Basanta.
“Music from the New Wilderness is a concert … which aims to explore the meaning of wilderness in contemporary culture,” Basanta told the Independent. “What does wilderness mean in a world of increased connectivity? What is the function of the wilderness? How has the wilderness changed, not only ecologically but also in terms of human inhabitants and their communities, or in terms of their economies?”
Montreal’s Adam Basanta. (photo from Adam Basanta)
The intertwining of music and wilderness generated new acoustic esthetics, and Basanta was drawn by the unlikely synthesis. In previous installations, he has blended two other waves of recognition: light and sound. “I started experimenting with combinations of light and sound in 2010, while studying for my master’s degree at Concordia University,” he explained. “I am really interested in ways in which light and sound can be combined, and the ways in which both elements influence our perception of objects and space.”
Despite the frequent fusion of video and audio in his compositions, music is the lens through which he experiences the world. “Even if it involves light without sound, music is the sensibility through which I conceive of material (sounding or otherwise) in time. Of course, a lot of my work falls outside of music and into the visual or media arts, but the guiding outlook emerges from a musical perspective.”
Basanta rarely performs, and considers himself predominantly a composer. “When I do perform and improvise, I usually use a laptop and custom software which I create,” he said. “I am interested in ways in which the laptop can be used as an instrument, as it is such a versatile and powerful tool and yet lacks a certain performative capacity that all musical instruments have. This tension between a possibility and limitations interests me and guides most of my work with technology.”
With a predilection for expanding his acoustic frontiers, Basanta was excited to work on the new piece for Music from the New Wilderness. He explained: “I will première a new electronic composition where all sounds come out of speakers (13 speakers to be exact); there is no performer on the stage. Entitled ‘When You’re Looking for Something, All You Can Find is Yourself,’ the work is a product of collaboration with the acoustic ecologist and researcher Jennifer Schine.” Basanta called their mutual piece “cinema for the ears.”
Unlike Basanta, Schine is not a composer. She is an ethnographic researcher and a sound artist. Explaining what the latter term means, Schine told the Independent, “Saying that I’m a ‘sound artist’ is a way to explain that I work with sound and think about listening.… Listening is a way to receive other peoples’ stories and witness the changing environment, soundscape and cultural landscape around us. The idea to witness is commonly thought of as a visual sense, but there are other ways to witness and receive information.”
Her collaborative work with Basanta has its roots in a research project that she began several years ago.
Acoustic ecologist and researcher Jennifer Schine. (photo from Jennifer Schine)
“In 2009, I volunteered at the Salmon Coast Field Station on the Broughton Archipelago, a group of islands along the coast of B.C.,” she explained. “Once a thriving fishing and logging community, this part of the world is now a fading echo of Canada’s early, labor-intensive resource extraction industries. During that time, I met Billy Proctor. He has spent a lifetime studying, living and listening to the rhythms of the coast…. My ethnographic work has involved documentation of Billy’s private museum, the Billy Proctor Museum, where I have been audio recording antique and disappearing sounds relating to Canada’s settler history. These recordings also include Billy’s stories and how his artifacts reflect the history and ecology of the area.”
Her next step was to find a way to share the unique audio chronicles she created with the public, and that’s how her association with Basanta connects to her research.
“Music from the New Wilderness isn’t just about creating music,” she said. “As citizens of British Columbia and the world at large, we are affected by the industrial extraction happening in the forests and oceans of the Broughton and beyond. We are part of this seismic shift in the way we use and connect to our wilderness areas. And so, in this moment of environmental threats, we must begin to realize that the Broughton Archipelago is important because it stands as an example of how to live on this coast. And Billy is important because he is a link into this way of life.”
Schine described her role in the show as “lead researcher, dramaturge and recordist. This composition was inspired by my ethnographic work in the Broughton Archipelago and was really made possible because of the long-standing working relationships I had made with the community and with Billy. This past summer, I took Adam to the Broughton for two weeks and brought him to places that I already knew were acoustically interesting. We were able to record the soundscape and get personable recordings.… As part of our collaboration, in September I went to Montreal, where Adam is based, and worked in his world, the sound studio.”
Schine also created a solo piece for the show, a sound installation called “Conversations with Billy Proctor.” She said: “During intermission, audience members can sit down and hear more stories from Billy Proctor. I hope to provide more of a context of the Broughton Archipelago and Billy’s life story.”
Music from the New Wilderness – winner of the 2014 Rio Tinto Alcan Award for music – runs Feb. 11-15. For more information and tickets, visit thecultch.com/events/music-new-wilderness.
Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at olgagodim@gmail.com.
Andrew McNee as Oscar Madison and Robery Maloney as Felix Ungar. (photo by David Cooper)
In his program notes, artistic managing director Bill Millerd recalls the Arts Club Theatre Company’s 1967 production of The Odd Couple. In those days, the Arts Club made its home on Seymour, where Vancity Theatre and the Vancouver International Film Festival are now. This nostalgia was an apt introduction to Neil’s Simon’s 1965 classic play, a multiple-award-winning comedy about two divorced men forced by circumstance to become roommates.
While some might find the premise dated – few today would raise an eyebrow at the notion of two men living together, and the sexual and gender politics that today exist are drastically different than they were in 1965 – Felix Ungar and Oscar Madison can still charm an audience. After all, at its heart, The Odd Couple is a heartwarming, amusing story about friendship.
The play opens with Oscar, a divorced, irresponsible, childish but lovable slob, hosting his Friday-night poker game for the boys. By the time we meet Felix, we know that he’s precise and punctual, but the true extent of his perfectionist, neat-freak ways don’t become evident until later.
Felix shows up at Oscar’s, distraught and suicidal after being kicked out by his (no doubt long-suffering) wife. The comedy starts to unfold as Felix’s friends try to hide their concern from him, out of fear they might cause Felix to leave or, heaven forbid, make another suicide attempt. After Oscar invites Felix to live with him – and to pay half the rent – their opposing personalities fully flower and high-energy comic chaos ensues.
Andrew McNee’s talent shines particularly bright as Oscar, a role that is dynamic and physically demanding, so potentially exhausting is Oscar’s frustration with Felix’s perfectionism, and so overwhelming his anguish at the thought of losing his best friend. Robert Moloney does a sympathetic, even endearing, job with Felix, who is bewildered after the collapse of his marriage but is also exasperated by his inability to change his own most annoying habits. Both Felix and Oscar are played with compassion, and it’s easy to root for them – a function of McNee’s and Moloney’s acting chops, but also a testament to Simon’s enduring script.
Though expectations around manhood have changed, it is still charming and satisfying to witness the camaraderie and delightful energy of a group of man friends who love – and respect – each other. Though the genre still relies on our culture’s discomfort with men expressing their emotions and fears, McNee and Moloney coax the vulnerability and honesty out of their characters, which is what makes this production so heartwarming. And, frankly, the rest of the cast – Josh Drebit, Joel Wirkkunen, Alec Willows and Cavan Cunningham – are equally terrific, as are Sasa Brown and Kate Dion-Richard, who play the Pigeon sisters with high comedy and great tenderness. This production features strong direction by John Murphy, spot-on costumes by Barbara Clayden and a clever set (including creatively amusing scene changes) by David Roberts.
The Odd Couple is at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage until Feb. 23. For tickets, visit artsclub.com.
When one is a Bedouin living in southern Israel, ironies seem to multiply with regularity. Two relatively recent Israeli-made films bring this incongruous life into sharp focus.
In the first, Voices from El Sayed: A Snail in the Desert (2009, documentary), director Oded Leshem examines a minority within a minority – a special needs Bedouin group. In the second, Sharqiya (2012, drama), director Ami Livne focuses on an Israeli Bedouin who, although he has spent his young adult life protecting other Israelis – first as a soldier and then as a security guard – faces eviction from his land because the Israeli authorities do not acknowledge it as his.
Leshem focuses on both the social and technological challenges facing the deaf members of the El Sayed Bedouin. In an understated but convincing manner, Leshem makes this point: for people who are deaf, this Bedouin tribe is both heaven and hell.
Leshem presents a lot of information in his 75-minute film. For starters, he unearths this nugget: the El Sayed have the highest concentration of deaf people of any community in the world. Estimates are that this desert community located northeast of the Negev city of Be’ersheva has 3,000 tribal members and, of this number, 125-150 are deaf. Intra-marriage is high – 65 percent of El Sayed’s couples are somehow related – so deafness is, therefore, more often transmitted from generation to generation. Almost every family has a deaf family member.
In this village, deafness is acknowledged as a fact of life. Not only is it considered normal, but everyone in the film – hearing and deaf – knows and uses sign language. At first glance, deaf community members appear totally accepted and functioning comfortably within the group. There is always someone with whom to converse – but in which language does one communicate?
According to Leshem’s film, language is one of the major social challenges facing Israel’s minorities. The film notes that the older deaf members of El Sayed converse in their own form of signing: El Sayed Bedouin Sign Language (EBSL). A number of the younger members, however, have studied in schools outside the community. These schools fall under the jurisdiction of the Israeli Ministry of Education, so these Bedouin study Israeli Sign Language (ISL). In addition, these same young students learn to read and write in Hebrew, rather than in Arabic, their mother tongue.
There is no school for the deaf on tribal land: children are bused to a school in Be’ersheva. But not every deaf child attends or has attended this facility. As the audience learns, some young adults studied in the centre of the country. However, on the positive side, the film explains that Be’ersheva has a special early childhood class for the hearing challenged, which is taught by traditional Bedouin teachers.
The deaf young adult tribal members who speak in the film want to marry deaf partners. But in this strongly paternalistic society, their parents still have a lot of say in marital matches. Some of the hearing parents want their marriage-age children to break what they see as a chain of deafness, so they are interested in having their deaf offspring pair off with hearing mates.
Not only are there parents who want to alter the course of future generations, but there are those trying to improve the life of their offspring in the present. The movie depicts one set of hearing parents who decide that one of their children will be the first El Sayed member to undergo a cochlear implant.
The good news is that the Israeli health-care system will cover the cost of the surgery and the implant itself. But, as viewers soon grasp, this family faces many other obstacles. The first several months following surgery entail regular and frequent trips back to Be’ersheva’s Soroka Hospital. During these hospital visits, the parents learn how to encourage their toddler to listen in everyday situations. Both the mother and father accompany the child to the hospital. There, they work with a Hebrew-speaking professional staff. The father speaks and reads Hebrew fluently, but the mother does not. No Arabic translator is provided. This point is critical as, at home, the mother has the huge task of ensuring that all the other children participate in the training.
No less significant is the hospital staff’s lack of awareness of the overall situation in El Sayed. While Leshem’s camera reveals that high-tension wires stand in close proximity to the village, the film’s narrative discloses that El Sayed is not hooked up to the national grid. There is no electricity, except for the generators that power the village. Just as the hospital staff comes to terms with the family’s difficulty in keeping all the implant parts properly charged, so the audience grasps just how challenging this procedure is for this family.
El Sayed lacks what most Westerners would consider basic utilities or services. For the dispersed Bedouins living in areas of southern Israel, which successive governments have classified as “unrecognized,” not having electricity or running water is a common situation. Nowhere is that brought home more clearly than in Livne’s drama Sharqiya.
A still from Sharqiya.
The story of Sharqiya centres around two brothers and the wife of one trying to live on family land. The land appears fairly inhospitable. Family members live quite minimally in one-room tin huts, serviced by a temperamental generator. In the barren surroundings, one brother herds a small number of goats, while Kamel Najer, the other brother and main character, works as a security guard in Be’ersheva’s central bus station.
Westerner viewers might wonder why it is so important to keep this undeveloped plot of land, especially when Israeli authorities offer compensation for leaving it. Coming from a Western society, it is also hard to get one’s head around the notion of inheriting land without documentation. But this is exactly what the Najer brothers claim: their family has lived on the land for generations.
In the film, viewers watch the authorities stand by, waiting to destroy the Najers’ homestead, as Kamel packs up cherished memorabilia from his army service. We witness this young Israeli Bedouin – who has felt enough sense of belonging to hold on to his army pictures and banners – have his living space made not just unfit, but non-existent. Livne makes it clear that if Israeli society does not appreciate the irony of this situation, it will not understand that such treatment puts the fragile foundation of Israel’s democratic structure at risk of collapse.
When the human and humane element is missing – as depicted by the Israel Land Authority’s tractor leveling the family’s meagre housing and corral – the cracks in society’s foundation deepen. The frustration and the disappointment do not fade out: in the closing shot, they are inscribed on Kamel’s face.
Deborah Rubin Fields is an Israel-based features writer. She is also the author of Take a Peek Inside: A Child’s Guide to Radiology.
More on the Bedouin
The following links are to position papers or websites of some of those involved in Israeli Bedouin affairs.
