You Will Not Play Wagner

Ever since the Holocaust, performing works by the composer Richard Wagner has been taboo in Israel. Wagner’s anti-Semitism and the use of his music by the Nazis are well known. This unofficial ban has been challenged – unsuccessfully – by acclaimed Israeli conductors Zubin Meta and Daniel Barenboim, and opposition to Wagner’s music remains steadfast. You Will Not Play Wagner is set in contemporary Tel Aviv, where Ya’akov, a young Israeli, causes a storm by selecting to perform Wagner in the finals of an international competition for conductors. He comes into conflict with Esther, Holocaust survivor and competition patron who has her own tragic connection with Wagner’s music, and Morris, the competition organizer. Their arguments push the competition to the brink and set Israeli society on edge. Should Ya’akov play Wagner? Should the politics of his music interfere with the quality of his art? To what extent do we honor the memory of the Holocaust, its survivors and their descendants, without stifling the next generation? And would a Jewish Israeli conducting Wagner be treachery or triumph?

Format: One Act

Running Time: 90 minutes

Character breakdown:

Cast:

Esther (conducting competition founder and sponsor)

Morris (competition administrator and close friend of Esther)

Ya’akov (Israeli conductor and competition finalist)

Miri (competition assistant/assistant to Esther)

Richard Wagner Consultant

Notes:

ואגנר? לא בא בחשבון | תיאטרון ירושלים תיאטרון הקריאה מיסודו של תיאטרון מיקרו מציג: ואגנר? לא בא בחשבון (אתה לא תנגן ואגנר)בכורה ישראלית חד פעמית למחזה חדש מאת ויקטור גורדון (“משפט פולארד”)האירוע מתקיים במתכונת הקראה דרמטית של המחזהמנצח ישראלי צעיר ומבטיח … www.jerusalem-theatre.co.il

Original or Prominent Production:
Eternity Playhouse, 39 Burton Street, Darlinghurst, Australia. May, 2017

Original Language: English

Experience(s) Chronicled: Survivors and Subsequent Generations | Reactions to the Holocaust