I remember Janie spotting this one in a Tricycle brochure and suggesting that the subject matter – the Israeli/Palestinian dispute, looked interesting.
“Written and directed by Rebecca Wolman. Oh my goodness, Rebecca Wolman is an old friend of mine from BBYO,” I said…”when she was known as Marcia Wolman”.
That almost dampened Janie’s enthusiasm – not because she had anything against my old friends from BBYO, nor people who choose to change their forenames, but because Janie was on a “we ALWAYS run into people you know when we go to the theatre” kick at that time. That was far from the truth – just occasionally we would run into someone I know – but it was Janie’s perception and that’s what mattered.
Anyway, Janie’s enthusiasm for the subject matter won through, so we went…
…and yes, we did run into someone I knew at the theatre – Rebecca – somewhat predictably. It was really nice to see her after so many years.
We were also able to tell Rebecca, truthfully, that we really liked the play and production.
Click here for an archive listing for the play/production.
In fact Janie was, if anything, more enthusiastic about it than I was. Janie was particularly taken with the allegory about the garden. Janie has often referred to this play since, in positive terms, usually when criticising other less subtle plays about such delicate subjects.
I was reminded of this play/production at the time of writing (March 2018) when Janie and I saw an excellent dramatisation of Returning To Haifa by Ghassan Kanafani at the Finborough theatre – click here or below:
Returning To Haifa by Ghassan Kanafani, Finborough Theatre, 9 March 2018
But returning to The Garden Of Habustan – I think the piece deserved a wider audience (as indeed I feel about Returning To Haifa). Hows about someone out there having a go at reviving it?