''What Strong Fences Make'' is a 2009 play by
Israel Horovitz
Israel Horovitz (March 31, 1939 – November 9, 2020) was an American playwright, director, actor and co-founder of the Gloucester Stage Company in 1979. He served as artistic director until 2006 and later served on the board, ex officio an ...
.
Mission
Horovitz told an interviewer that he wrote ''What Strong Fences Make'' because "another voice needed to be heard" in the wake of
Caryl Churchill
Caryl Lesley Churchill (born 3 September 1938) is a British playwright known for dramatising the abuses of power, for her use of non- naturalistic techniques, and for her exploration of sexual politics and feminist themes. 's play ''
Seven Jewish Children'', which he argues was "offensive, distorted and manipulative".
Horovitz has offered to allow any theater that wishes to produce ''What Strong Fences Make'' free of royalties, provided that a collection is taken up following all performances for the benefit of
ONE Family Fund, a charity that assists children wounded in attacks on Israel.
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The playwright has made the entire script of the play available as a downloadable PDF
on the website of
Theater J
Theater J is a professional theater company located in Washington, DC, founded to present works that "celebrate the distinctive urban voice and social vision that are part of the Jewish cultural legacy".
Organization
Hailed by ''The New York T ...
.
Plot
''What Strong Fences Make'' is set at an
IDF military checkpoint just outside
Ramallah. Horovitz calls it "a simple and clear stage-play that attempts to make a statement about a real-life situation that is anything but simple and clear."
Staging
The first reading was staged by New York's
Barefoot Theater Company
The Barefoot Theatre Company is an active theatre company in New York City.
The Barefoot Theatre Company was founded in 1999 by a multicultural group of artists, led by actor Francisco Solorzano. The company develops theater and film (via sist ...
on April 15, 2009.
Other productions
The play was produced at the
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...
Theater Marathon in 2009.
References
{{reflist
External links
* Script: http://washingtondcjcc.org/center-for-arts/theater-j/on-stage/middle-east-festival/What_Strong_Fences_Make-Final-Draft.pdf
One Family Fund
2009 plays
Plays based on other plays
Plays by Israel Horovitz
Jews and Judaism in fiction
Plays about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict