PuSh International Performing Arts Festival cancels Israel-set The Runner after Palestinian artist's input
Basel Zaraa had pledged to withdraw Dear Laila from PuSh if other play stayed on program
The Runner depicts a member of the Jewish ZAKA volunteer force, who makes the split-second decision to treat a young Palestinian woman instead of the Israeli soldier she may have killed. Photo by Dylan Hewlett.
CONFLICT IN THE MIDDLE East has now affected the programming at a West Coast interdisciplinary arts festival.
The Push International Performing Arts Festival has decided to cancel The Runner, an Israeli-set play that had attracted controversy over recent weeks.
It is doing so largely in response to input from Palestinian artist Basel Zaraa, whose own work, Dear Laila, is going to open at the fest. Zaraa was set to withdraw his installation from PuSh if Christopher Morris’s The Runner was kept on the program. In Dear Laila, audience members visit a miniature model of Zaraa’s former household in a refugee camp.
“This difficult decision comes after weeks of making significant effort to honour our commitment to Human Cargo and Christopher Morris, whose artistry we deeply respect. We will fulfill all financial commitments with them,” PuSh said today in the statement. “At the same time, we believe it is a necessary choice to prioritize the work of an artist whose perspective is grossly underrepresented in Canadian theatre and performance culture.”
As seen in the public statement below, now Birmingham, England-based Zaraa has complained that “Palestinians appear in The Runner almost exclusively as perpetrators of violence.”
The Runner premiered at Toronto’s Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace in 2018 and has been staged in six cities. It won three coveted Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Outstanding Production, Outstanding Direction, and Outstanding New Play. It is about ultra-Orthodox Jacob, a member of the Jewish ZAKA volunteer force, who makes the split-second decision to treat a young Palestinian woman instead of the Israeli soldier she may have killed. Morris, who is not Israeli, based the play on the story of a real-life ZAKA member.
Morris, who has voluntarily stepped aside with his show, has issued a statement, below, saying he’s saddened: “It’s unsettling when Canadian theatres cannot be a space for the public to engage in a dynamic exchange of ideas.”
PuSh had described the play as a “nuanced exploration of our shared humanity and the value of kindness” in its program. A Globe & Mail review had promised the work would make “your heart soar and leave you breathless”. It was set to open at the SFU Woodward’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. Earlier this month, director of programming Gabrielle Martin and director of operations Keltie Forsyth had released a blog statement supporting the presentation of The Runner: “Our aim is that PuSh brings us together and inspires us to have complex and nuanced conversations; to challenge ourselves and each other not only to think differently, but to feel differently.”
The Belfry Theatre in Victoria had previously cancelled a showing of The Runner.
Here is the just-released statement in its entirety, from Martin and Forsyth, as well as Zaraa and Morris:
“On January 2nd, we released a statement that expressed our hope that PuSh bring us together and inspire us to have complex and nuanced conversations; to challenge ourselves and each other not only to think differently, but to feel differently. We positioned The Runner as part of a wider Festival ecology that offers opportunities for self-reflection, better understanding of others’ experiences, and dialogue.
“Over the past two weeks, we have been in conversation with various members of our community. We have heard those who call to cancel The Runner, feeling it is a work that perpetuates the oppression of Palestinian people. We have heard the call to present it by those who feel the work provides an empathetic, and fundamentally humanist perspective. We have also heard from those who believe theatre is the right place for difficult conversations and want us to resist censorship. We have heard the call that now is not the right time. We have heard nuanced and careful criticism of the play, and we have seen it mischaracterized as intentionally harmful Israeli propaganda.
“And we have felt the desire to uphold relationships with artists. We have felt the anger expressed to us. But most importantly, we have felt the words of Festival artist Basel Zaraa.”
Statement from Basel Zaraa:
“Dear Laila is an installation I created for my young daughter, which tells the story of our family’s ongoing trauma and struggle as Palestinians exiled by Israel, starting with the massacre in our village of Tantura in Palestine, in 1948. As Israel’s genocide in Gaza continues, I cannot agree for Dear Laila to be shown alongside The Runner, a play which reinforces dehumanising narratives about Palestinians.
“Palestinians appear in The Runner almost exclusively as perpetrators of violence. While the Israeli characters are vividly portrayed, the Palestinian characters don't even have names, and barely speak. The fundamental context of Israel’s occupation, apartheid and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people is not given.
“This is not a war between two sides, but a decades-long effort by Israel to control and erase our people. While many voices are welcome, artistic endeavors on this subject have a responsibility to reflect the reality that there is an occupier and an occupied.
“I am grateful to PuSh for their commitment to showing my work, and am looking forward to presenting Dear Laila at the festival.”
“As a Festival, we respect Basel’s perspective. We will honour the artist whose work reflects their lived experience and cancel the presentations of The Runner by Canadian playwright Christopher Morris, whose work is rooted in years of research but who has no religious or cultural ties to the region.
“This difficult decision comes after weeks of making significant effort to honour our commitment to Human Cargo and Christopher Morris, whose artistry we deeply respect. We will fulfill all financial commitments with them. At the same time, we believe it is a necessary choice to prioritize the work of an artist whose perspective is grossly underrepresented in Canadian theatre and performance culture. We believe that in the context of a daily bombardment of Gaza by the state of Israel that has, as of January 9, killed over 23,000 Palestinians - a majority women and children - and displaced 85% of Gaza's 2 million residents, this is the right choice to make. We also recognize the immense and real suffering faced by the 2,000 Israeli families whose loved ones were murdered, assaulted or taken hostage on October 7. Finally, we unequivocally condemn all anti-semitic and Islamophobic attacks, and maintain that the State of Israel, as well as Hamas, like any state actors, can and should be criticized, without fear of censure.”
Statement from Christopher Morris:
“The Runner is a fictional story about an Israeli man who saves the life of a young Palestinian woman and is ostracized by his peers for doing so. It is an award-winning, one-person play, told from the singular perspective of a man who confronts his community’s fear and their dehumanization of others. Criticised by his own people, his empathy never wavers. For me, The Runner is a nuanced play about the need to see the humanity of others.
“Basel Zaraa's voice is new to Canadians and his installation Dear Laila–also nuanced & award-winning–focuses on his family experience as Palestinians exiled by Israel. It is an extraordinary, important work.
“Holding space for other viewpoints is essential, particularly at this moment of trauma and division. I sympathize with the PuSh Festival’s distress when Basel shared that he’d withdraw his work if The Runner remained in the festival; and when they arrived at their difficult decision to prioritize one artist’s voice over another. PuSh’s leadership has navigated this complicated situation with transparency and care. If removing The Runner is the only way Canadians can hear Basel’s crucial voice, then there is value in stepping aside.
“I am deeply saddened by humankind's capacity to wage war. We’re living in troubled times and the impact of the war in Gaza and Israel is profoundly felt in Canada.
“It’s unsettling when Canadian theatres cannot be a space for the public to engage in a dynamic exchange of ideas. I believe theatre must be a place where contrasting perspectives are programmed and celebrated. Now more than ever, we need to listen to each other, engage in different viewpoints, and find our shared humanity. “
“PuSh is deeply grateful to these two artists who have had the courage and grace to share their words with us and with the public.
“We understand and anticipate the disappointment, anger and sadness that may come from our communities with regard to the process leading up to and/or outcome of this decision. As leaders, we continue to strive for a balance between leading and listening. We hold as fundamental a value of inter-cultural exchange and, moving forward, we endeavor to both be in more fulsome dialogue with our artists leading up to the Festival, and to facilitate relationships between these artists as we build our program, so that dialogue can exist within a foundation of trust and understanding.”
In recent weeks, arts groups and individuals have been debating whether PuSh should cancel or continue with presenting The Runner. Amid the dialogue, the frank theatre, which is overseeing a Club PuSh event, released this statement this week:
“We want to address the concerns in our community around the PuSh Festival’s programming of The Runner and our participation in Club PuSh.
“Firstly, we as a company unequivocally condemn the violent Israeli occupation of Palestine and continued devastation being wrought in Gaza. We grieve the tragic losses of both Israeli and Palestinian civilians, and stand against racism, colonialism, imperialism, Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and Anti-Arab hate. We continue to call for a ceasefire, medical aid, demilitarization and an end to this genocide.
“We have read The Runner and reviewed the concerns brought up about the play by community members. At this time, we do not feel that canceling our Club PuSh event is the most impactful action we can take, and therefore will be continuing with the cabaret on January 27th.
“While we are critical of the choice to program The Runner in this current moment, we have read the piece, and our interpretation of the work is that it is actually trying to criticize the horrors that Israel has wrought on the Palestinian people. We don’t agree that now is the right time to program it, as it centers an Isreali perspective and graphically describes the brutalization of Palestinian civilians, in a time when Palestinian voices need to be uplifted and amplified. Due to the West’s backing of Israel, there is a power imbalance, and as an arts organization it is our responsibility to use our platform to stand with the oppressed.
“We believe the best course of action is to express our concerns openly, and to continue to leverage our resources (including Club PuSh) to speak out and to employ BIPOC artists. We will also be amplifying the Palestinian show that has been programmed at PuSh, Dear Laila…”
The presentation at the Belfry had been the subject of duelling petitions asking that it be either kept on the program or removed. Someone spraypainted “Free Palestine” on the outside of the theatre.
Here is the entire statement released by the Belfry Theatre about why it chose to cancel The Runner:
“The Belfry Theatre presents contemporary work, with ideas that often generate dialogue. That is why, a year ago, we decided to bring the much-acclaimed play, The Runner, to Victoria.
“However, we believe that presenting The Runner at this particular time does not ensure the well-being of all segments of our community. Given the current conflict in the Middle East, this is not the time for a play which may further tensions among our community. We will therefore not be presenting The Runner during the 2024 SPARK Festival. This has not been an easy decision, and we are grateful to our community for sharing various perspectives which added to our understanding.”
Stir will continue to follow and update this story.
UPDATE:
The frank theatre company has now posted a new statement on its stance on the showing of The Runner at the PuSh Festival. It reads as follows:
“As a values-based company working against white-supremacy, we hold space for learning and open dialogue. We want to apologize for acting too soon with our statement without prior consultation with community members. We will ensure we are more intentional with our actions moving forward, to prevent further harm.
"One of the main values of the frank theatre is to listen, reflect and respond — to be accountable, and to be learning continuously. We want to thank all the community members who’ve spoken out about the Runner, including the collective led by Palestinian, Indigenous and Jewish community members who generously shared their perspective and context on the show in an open letter to PuSh. We are now fully aware of the harm that The Runner is causing to Palestinians and the current global conversation.
”We are committed to continuing to engage with oppressed communities and to hold space for voices that are silenced.
"At this point, we will not continue with Club PuSh unless the PuSh Festival pulls The Runner from their programming. In good conscience, we cannot be neutral when we see the potential for more injury in the communities that we serve. We encourage PuSh to heed the call in the open letter, which we have signed, and to cancel their presentation of the Runner.
”We deeply appreciate the time and energy folks have taken to reach out and voice their concerns. We stand in solidarity with them, and continue to learn how to best serve our communities.”
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