A Latina movie star, a Russian prostitute, a lovelorn gay German furniture builder, and a Muslim professor all sit down at a Tel Aviv café—but the joke is interrupted mid-sentence by the dreadful blast of an unlikely suicide bomber.
Israeli-American Iris Bahr’s one-woman show, DAI (Enough), leads the way into the lives of 11 inhabitants from every strata of Israeli society only minutes before a terrible calamity. The play begins with a British CNN reporter who was assigned to Israel after developing a deep sympathy and bias for the “Palestinian plight.” The rest of the characters that Bahr plays unfold their stories of loss, nostalgia, ignorance, and indifference on camera.
“…what I prefer to share with you are human stories that embody the splintered Israeli psyche as I have come to know and experience it,” writes Bahr. “…a psyche that obviously deals, not only with constant Israel-specific issues like religious/national identity, Zionism/Post-Zionism and the price of peace, but with universal issues of love, loss, family and heartbreak.”
Bahr brilliantly personifies her characters, blending humor with calamity while constantly evoking a sense of anxiety and alarm amongst her attentive audience. Bahr introduces her characters long enough to paint a complex and compelling silhouette of their lives. Yet right as Bahr illuminates their intrinsic humanity, their narratives repetitively come to a violent and shocking end.
When it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there are at least two sides of the story. Though Bahr provides 11 characters, she—for the most part—sticks with exploring how those on the Israeli side of the border live with the conflict and largely side-steps more controversial perspectives. Perhaps the absence of criticism wouldn’t have been so glaring were it not for Israel’s recent Gaza offensive, which wrecked horror and havoc and left many in the international community questioning Israeli’s conduct in the “assault.”
However, Bahr carefully avoided making any sort of political commentary and simply set out to “entertain, illuminate, humanize and perhaps lessen the food flinging [political discussions]…” Ultimately, Bahr’s characters reveal a fundamental longing for peace and end to bloodshed that often gets lost amidst more publicized and headlining renditions of the Israeli story.
DAI (ENOUGH)
A one-woman show written and performed by Iris Bahr. Original production directed by Will Pomerantz. Lighting, Garth Dolan; sound, Frank Gaeta; sound, Ed Moser. Presented by Theater J at the Studio Theater. Production ended January 18th. For future performances check Iris Bahr’s upcoming shows.
Previously in Live DC:
- 2/9: LiveDC: Theophilus London @ 930 Club
- 2/9: Best Weekend Bets
- 2/8: LiveDC: Kathleen Edwards @ 930 Club
- 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
- 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
- 2/7: LiveDC: Demetri Martin @ Warner Theatre
- 2/7: LiveDC: Augustana/ Graffiti6 @ 930 Club
- 2/6: LiveDC: All Things Go Presents: Reptar/ Casual Curious/ Fort Lean @ Gibson Guitar Showroom
- 2/6: LiveDC: TYCHO/ Beacon @ RNR Hotel
- 2/6: LiveDC: The Kills / Jeff The Brotherhood @ 9:30 Club
God loves a cheerful giver.
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