To put on a play, you need a playwright, a director and actors. In the case of “Benedictus,” they also needed a mediator.
Now in its premiere run at San Francisco’s Thick House, Golden Thread Productions’ “Benedictus” is a new play several years in the making. This collaborative effort brought together an Israeli playwright, an Iranian-born director, an Egyptian-born actor and a Jewish American dramaturge. Why wouldn’t they need a mediator?
The playwright, Motti Lerner, is one of Israel’s best. Among his works, the plays “The Murder of Isaac” and “Exile in Jerusalem,” and the film “Kastner’s Trial,” which won an Israeli Film Academy Award.
Lerner says “Benedictus” ranks among his most important works. And most prescient. Years before headlines screamed of tensions between Israel and Iran, Lerner had the idea to write a play exploring that very subject.
“I didn’t understand the hatred in Iran toward Israel and the new anti-Semitism there since the revolution,” he says. “In Israel the only attitude toward it is fear. I thought it was the theater’s role to explore it.”
The story takes place hours before an American attack on an Iranian nuclear facility. An Israeli arms dealer, born in Iran and desperate to rescue his sister (who lives in Iran), contacts an old friend, now a cleric in the Islamic regime. In a Benedictine monastery near Rome, the two negotiate the
sister’s freedom before the clock
runs out. Add a shadowy figure from the U.S. embassy, and “Benedictus” proves a taut drama that keeps audiences guessing.
It took a village to raise “Benedictus” to its current level of theatrical polish. Key players included dramaturge Roberta Levitow, Golden Thread artistic director Torange Yeghiazarian and Iranian-born director Mahmood Karimi-Hakak.
“I learned a lot from Mahmood,” Lerner says. “I learned my perception of Iran was one-dimensional. The rhetoric coming from Iran mostly represents the government and the revolutionary guards. There is a majority there who do not share the same anti-Semitism and hatred.”
Lerner reports that some conversations — especially on the topic of Israel and Palestine — grew heated. But Lerner says the conflicts ultimately led to greater understanding.
“The arguments were an opportunity to learn about the other,” he adds. “Even when they are hot, it’s an opportunity to hear people speaking from the bottom of their hearts. I think I was heard.”
Though he speaks excellent English, Lerner wrote the play in Hebrew, then had it translated. He hopes to see “Benedictus” staged in Israel and perhaps someday in Iran.
That may not happen any time soon, but Israel can’t get enough of the prolific Lerner, who also teaches playwriting at Tel Aviv University and has served as scholar-in-residence at Oxford University.
As timely as “Benedictus” is, some might discern an echo of the encounter between disgraced Israeli president (and native Iranian) MosheKatsav and Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khameni. The two met in Rome at the funeral of Pope John Paul II, and briefly chatted in Farsi. It may have seemed a moment of hope to some, but not to Lerner.
“I admit other members of the [‘Benedictus’ team] were impressed by that,” he says. “But knowing Katsav and his moral background, I never had any sympathy. I was not inspired by him.”
But with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spouting hatred, and a real war with Iran no longer unthinkable, how much of a difference can a play make? Lerner doesn’t know, but he hopes “Benedictus” can help.
“We don’t have the responsibility for signing [diplomatic] agreements,” he says. “We only offer insight. It’s easy for artists to take risks — as opposed to politicians, who pay a huge price. In theater we are allowed to make mistakes.”
Golden Thread Productions’ “Benedictus” plays 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 5 p.m. Sundays, with 2 p.m. Saturday matinees, through Oct. 21, at the Thick House, 1695 18th St., S.F. Tickets: $12-$25. Information: (415) 401-8081 or www.goldenthread.org.