"There is a Field" A New Play by Jen Marlowe Draws Parallels Between Police Killings in Israel and the U.S.
“There Is A Field epitomizes what politically engaged art should be.” -Ari Wohlfeiler, Deputy Director, Jewish Voice for Peace
Feb 29, 2016, Brooklyn, NY——There Is A Field is a new play by Jen Marlowe about the police killing of a 17-year old Palestinian citizen of Israel (Aseel Asleh), told mostly through the eyes of his sister. It is poised for a 22-stop tour across ten states in March and April, and will be performed at colleges and universities, including three historically Black schools, and community performances will be held in Washington, DC and St. Louis. All performances are open to the public.
“There Is A Field is an intimate story about one family’s journey through grief and struggle for justice, but it is not just the story of Aseel’s family,” says playwright and producer Jen Marlowe, who crafted the script from interviews, emails, and other primary source material conducted over 15 years. “The play is the story of all families who have lost loved ones to state violence. It is the story of all people whose lives have been shattered by systems of supremacy.”
The tour (see full tour schedule below), which begins March 2, is timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Land Day, an annual commemoration of land dispossessions and the killings of Palestinian citizens of Israel in 1976. Conducted as a partnership between leading Palestinian rights advocacy organizations and organizations deeply involved in the movement for Black lives (listed below), each performance will be tied to discussions and workshops that seek to emphasize connections between the two struggles.
The play is directed by Noelle Ghoussaini, who has worked on theater in the US, France, Russia and the Middle East, and is currently a 2050 directing fellow at New York Theatre
Workshop. It features a cast of accomplished New York-based actors, including Caitlin Nasema Cassidy, Gamze Ceylan, Amel Khalil, Jackson Goldberg, Alan Ceppos, and Kesav Wable.
“There Is A Field is very moving and humanizing of the ongoing situation in Palestine-Israel,” says Linda Chapman, associate artistic director of the New York Theatre Workshop. “It also provides an uncomfortable mirror image of what’s going on in this country with the militarization of local police and the knee-jerk acts of violence committed against African Americans.”
TOUR SCHEDULE
- Wed March 2: Brooklyn, NY, St Joseph’s College
- Sat March 5: Poughkeepsie, NY, Vassar College
- Tues March 8: Williamstown, MA, Williams College
- Wed March 9: Amherst, MA, Hampshire College
- Thurs March 10: Cambridge, MA, Harvard University
- Sat March 12: Somerville, MA, Tufts University
- Mon March 14: Bowie, MD, Bowie State University
- Wed March 16: Bryn Mawr, PA, Bryn Mawr College
- Sat March 19: Washington, DC, St Stephen’s and the Incarnation Episcopal Church
- Mon March 21: Washington, DC, American University
- Tues March 22: Washington, DC, Capital High School
- Tues March 22: Washington, DC, Howard University
- Wed March 23: Madison, NJ, Drew University
- Thurs, March 24: Middletown, CT, Wesleyan University
- Mon March 28: NYC, Columbia University
- Tues March 29: NYC, Columbia University
- Thurs March 31: Tallahassee, FL, Florida A&M University and Florida State University
- Sat April 2: Gainesville, FL, University of Florida
- Mon April 4: Atlanta, GA, Emory University
- Wed April 6: Athens, GA, University of Georgia
- Fri April 8: St Louis, MO, Washington University
- Sat April 9: St Louis/Ferguson, MO, Community performance (venue TBD)
For complete details about tour schedule and performances CLICK HERE
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Jen Marlowe is an award-winning author, documentary filmmaker, playwright and human rights activist. Her most recent book is I Am Troy Davis and her most recent documentary film is Witness Bahrain. Her previous films include One Family in Gaza, Rebuilding Hope: Sudan’s Lost Boys Return Home, and Darfur Diaries: Message from Home. She also wrote the accompanying book Darfur Diaries: Stories of Survival. Jen co-authored The Hour of Sunlight: One Palestinian’s Journey from Prisoner to Peacemaker which won the Middle East Monitor’s 2012 Palestine Book Award.
PRAISE FOR JEN MARLOWE
“Here is a shout for human rights and for the abolition of the death penalty. [Jen Marlowe’s] book, I Am Troy Davis, should be read and cherished. It will inspire courage in the heart of those who are willing to use their efforts to save lives and increase the quality of life for all people.”
—Maya Angelou
“[Jen Marlowe’s] Rebuilding Hope…is a deeply moving study in loss and suffering, in courage, in wisdom about the meaning of Life as Humans that seems as old as the continent of Africa.”
—Alice Walker
PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS
50 Shades of Black, Adalah, Center for Constitutional Rights, CODEPINK, Donkeysaddle Projects, Dream Defenders, Hands Up United, Jewish Voice for Peace, Students for Justice in Palestine-National, and the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
MEDIA SUPPORTER
Arab America (www.arabamerica.com)
Complied by Arab America