My overall impression
Tonight I watched a woman whose bravery and fortitude is an inspiration to all who struggle to have a voice. At the urging of other Palestinian friends, I went to the show with no expectations. One can postulate from the title that they’re definitely in for a highly thought-provoking piece of composition that will leave audiences who seek to gain an understanding of a complex issue through the eyes of this young woman with the simple question of “why?”
Jennifer Jajeh’s one woman show starts out on the light-hearted end, and while I would have liked her to stay even handed throughout the show (after intermission the laughs are less prevalent), I am appreciative of the honesty in which she covers the annals of history of the region and specifically her family. No doubt there are scurrilous attacks, blatant or not on simply characterizing oneself as Palestinian, but I believe that this tide is changing. Films like PARADISE NOW, MIRAL, the springing of festivals throughout the Middle East, and the rush of technology are painting a divergent picture.
The eisegesis that exists of the conflict is starting to take a different trajectory. The antediluvian ideas, which pullulate from a baby boomer generation is being knocked down by the younger more willful. No longer are we allowing their thoughts to be foisted upon us. The conversation is now reaching a new plane in which those who are sagacious enough will not allow our differences to ossify the discussion, but rather bring the discourse to new heights in our demand for human dignity to be universal.
Thank you for a wonderful show JJ.
SB