"Naomi Wallace commits the unpardonable sin of being partisan, and, the
darkness and harshness of her work notwithstanding, outrageously
optimistic. She seems to believe the world can change. She certainly
writes as if she intends to set it on fire."--Tony Kushner
Naomi Wallace, the rare writer who combines lyrical theatricality with
political ferocity, turns her sight to the Middle East, with a new
triptych for the stage. Vision One, A State of Innocence, is set--as
the playwright describes, in "something like a small zoo, but more
silent, empty, in Rafah, Palestine. Or a space that once dreamed it was
a zoo"--and features a Palestinian woman, an Israeli architect, and an
Israeli soldier. Vision Two, The Retreating World, is of an Iraqi bird
keeper from Baghdad and his address before the International Pigeon
Convention. Vision Three, Between this Breath and You, takes place
after hours in the waiting room of a clinic in West Jerusalem, where a
Palestinian father confronts the nurse's aide, a young Israeli woman,
about the meaning of the loss of his son and the impact it had on her
life. These multifaceted works explore the urgency and complexity of the
Middle East's political landscape, through the voices and bodies of the
people who inhabit it.
Naomi Wallace is a poet and playwright from Kentucky, who currently
resides in England. Her numerous awards include the MacArthur "Genius"
Fellowship. Her plays, including One Flea Spare, In the Heart of
America, and Trestle at Pope Lick Creek, are produced throughout the
United States and around the world.
