====================================================================== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. ======================================================================
Press Release 6 September 2010 Vanessa Redgrave, Tony Kushner and other American artists support Israeli artists' Ariel boycott Following the movement of Israeli theater professionals who authored a letter refusing to perform in the settlement of Ariel on August 27th,and the attack on them that ensued, American counterparts have come together with their own statement of support. Organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, a national Jewish-American organization, the statement has been signed by over 150 theater and film professionals representing some of the most respected and renowned artists in theater and film – including Four Pulitzer Prize winners, several recipients of Guggenheim Fellowships, a MacArthur Fellowship, a National Medal of Honor,and scores of recipients of the highest U.S. acting honors, including Tony Awards, Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards, Obie Awards, Drama Desk Awards, and more. Some names include Sex and the City's Cynthia Nixon, world-renowned playwright Tony Kushner, 21-time Tony winner for productions of "The Pajama Game" to "Phantom of the Opera" Harold Prince , star of the film "Yentl," Mandy Patinkin, and Cameri co-founder Theodore Bikel, among many others. Organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, a national Jewish-American organization, the statement has been signed by over 150 theater and film professionals representing a wide geographic, political, cultural and professional range – including Four Pulitzer winners, several recipients of Guggenheim Fellowships, a MacArthur Fellowship, a National Medal of Honor,and scores of recipients of the highest U.S. acting honors, including Tony Awards, Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards, Obie Awards, Drama Desk Awards, and more. Some names include Sex and the City's Cynthia Nixon, Oscar winner Vanessa Redgrave, world-renowned playwright Tony Kushner, 21-time Tony winner for productions of "The Pajama Game" to "Phantom of the Opera" Harold Prince , star of the film "Yentl," Mandy Patinkin, and Cameri co-founder Theodore Bikel, among many others. Rebecca Vilkomerson, Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace: "The response of American artists to the courageous actions of their Israeli counterparts is just phenomenal. It is especially notable that so many of the signatories are Jewish Americans with long-standing connections to Israel. We hope that the strong show of solidarity by Americans in response to these brave Israelis will help spark a new conversation in both countries, one that acknowledges that the Jewish settlements in the occupied territories are illegal by every measure of international law, contribute to the daily violation of human rights of Palestinians, and are a major obstacle to a just peace in the region." Press contact: Jonathan Pollak 054-632-7736 Libby Lenkinski Friedlander 054-800-1917 Text of the statement: On August 27th, dozens of Israeli actors, directors, and playwrights made the brave decision not to perform in Ariel, one of the largest of the West Bank settlements, which by all standards of international law are clearly illegal. As American actors, directors, critics and playwrights, we salute our Israeli counterparts for their courageous decision. Most of us are involved in daily compromises with wrongful acts. When a group of people suddenly have the clarity of mind to see that the next compromise looming up before them is an unbearable one -- and when they somehow find the strength to refuse to cross that line -- we can't help but be overjoyed and inspired and grateful. It's thrilling to think that these Israeli theatre artists have refused to allow their work to be used to normalize a cruel occupation which they know to be wrong, which violates international law and which is impeding the hope for a just and lasting peace for Israelis an Palestinians alike. They've made a wonderful decision, and they deserve the respect of people everywhere who dream of justice. We stand with them. *Statement organizers and signatories represent a wide range of political opinions and perspectives, but have come together for the sole purpose of making a joint statement on this one critical issue. **All identifications and affiliations are for identification purposes only and do not imply endorsements by any institutions Signatories: Vanessa Redgrave actress The only British actress to ever have won the Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Canes, Golden Globe and the Screen Actors Guild awards; Mission: Impossible, Mary Queen of Scots, Atonement. Cynthia Nixon Actress Portrayed Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series Sex and the City; Emmy, Tony and Grammy Award-winning actress Ed Asner Actor 8 time Emmy award Winner (more than any other male actor); Former president Screen Actors Guild, lead voice in Pixar's Up, Mary Tyler Moore Tony Kushner Playwright; Screenwriter; Pulitzer Prize winner for Angels in America; Tony Award winner; Emmy Award winner; Drama Desk Award winner; Was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award; Co-author of Munich Theodore Bikel Actor, Folk Singer, Musician Co-founder of the Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv; president of the Associated Actors and Artistes of America; Academy Award nominee; Tony Award nominee; actor in film, TV and theater; vocalist Jennifer Tilly Actress Portrayed Olive Neal in Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway, Fabulous Baker Boys, Liar Liar, Bound; Academy Award Nominee Miriam Margolyes Actor Portrayed Professor Sprout in Harry Potter; BAFTA Winner Harold Prince Director, Producer, 21 Tony Awards winner (Pajama Game, Cabaret, West Side Story, Sweeney Todd, Evita, Phantom of the Opera), National Medal of the Arts Recipient Mandy Patinkin Actor, Vocalist Actor in Yentl, the Princess Bride (portrayed Inigo Montoya), Sunday in the Park with George; Vocalist, (Mamaloshen), Tony Award winner Wallace Shawn Actor, Playwright, Translator Actor in Princess Bride (portrayed Vizzini) My Dinner With Andre, Vanya on 42nd St; playwright of The Fever, The Designated Mourner; translator of Three Penny Opera by Bertoldt Brecht James Schamus Producer, Screenwriter, Film Historian BAFTA Award Winner; producer of Brokeback Mountain, co-writer and producer of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The Ice Storm, Eat Drink Man Woman, Academy Award nominee, CEO Focus Features Eve Ensler Playwright, preformer The Vagina Monologues; Obie Award winner; Guggenheim Fellowship Liz Diamond Scholar Chair, Directing Dept., Yale School of Drama Andre Gregory Actor My Dinner With Andre Lynn Nottage Playwright Winner of 2009 Pulitzer Prize; winner of 2007 MacArthur Genius Award Sheldon Harnick Lyricist Pulitzer Prize Winner, Fiddler on the Roof, Tony Award Winner Paula Vogel Playwright, Scholar Pulitzer Prize Winner, Eugene O'Neill Chair, Playwriting Department -Yale School of Drama Bill Irwin Actor, Mime, Choreographer Winner two Tony Awards ;Winner of the National Endowment for the Arts Choreographer's Fellowship; Guggenheim, Fulbright and MacArthur Fellowships David Adjmi Playwright Steinberg Playwright Award, the Bush Artists Fellowship, and the Kesselring Fellowship for Drama, named in the New Yorker as up and coming playwrigh t Najla Said Actor, Playwright Daughter of Edward Said; “Palestine,” Her one-woman Off Broadway play is a coming-of-age story about Ms. Said’s journey to become an Arab-American on her own terms. Bruce Allardice Managing Director Ping Chong & Co. Philip Arnoult Director, Center for International Theatre Development (CITD) Anthony Arnove Author and Editor Co-Directed (with Howard Zinn and Chris Moore) and Executive Produced "The People Speak (film) Caron Atlas Cultural Organizer and Consultant Founding director of the American Festival Project, a national coalition of activist artists (http://www.fracturedatlas.org/site/bios/staff/15/Caron_Atlas) Arthur Aviles Artistic Director Artistic Director, The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, Arthur Aviles Typical Theatre David Barlow Actor, Writer, Performance Artist Laura Barnett Theater Educator, Performance Artist, Director George Bartenieff Actor Obie Award Winner Mark Barton Lighting Designer John Bell Director Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, Puppeteer, Scholar, Great Small Works. Melia Bensussen Director Obie Award Winning Director; Chair of Emerson College Department of Performing Arts Eric Bentley Theatre scholar, critic, author, playwright, editor and translator Theodore S. Berger Executive Director of the New York Foundation for the Arts for thirty years Susan Bernfield Artistic Director, New Georges Philip Bither Senior curator, Walker Arts Center James Bundy Dean, Yale School of Drama; Artistic Director, Yale Repertory Theatre Kathleen Chalfant Actor Obie Award Winner, Drama Desk Winner, Tony Award Nominee Linda Chapman Associate Artistic Director, New York Theatre Workshop Rachel Chavkin Director; Founder and Artistic director of the TEAM (the Theater of the Emerging American Moment) Trudi Cohen Puppeteer, Theater Artist Great Small Works Kia Corthron Playwright Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas Playwright Clare Coss Playwright Alex Courtney Stage, Film and Television Actor Tim Cusack Artistic Director, Theatre Askew Savitri D. Director The Church of Life After Shopping Matthew Dellapina Actor Ivor Dembina Comedian David J. Diamond theatre consultant, producer and career coach for theatre artists Elin Diamond Critic, Scholar Sally Eberhardt Theatres Against War (THAW) Edward Einhorn Director, Playwright, Novelist, Executive Director of the Association of Jewish Theatre Deborah Eisenberg Playwright, Author, Actor, MacArthur Fellow John Clinton Eisner Artistic Director, Lark Play Development Center Oskar Eustis Artistic Director, The Public Theater Bertie Ferdman, Ph.D. Artistic Director, ExPgirl; Theatre Artist, Curator, Producer, Educator Corey Fischer Actor, Playwright Playwright of See Under: Love; co-founder of the Traveling Jewish Theater,(now the Jewish Theater San Francisco) Elinor Fuchs Critic; Scholar, Yale School of Drama Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros Playwright 2004 finalist, Pulitzer Prize for Drama Adam Greenfield Director of New Play Development, Playwright Horizons David Greenspan Actor, Award-Winning Playwright Kathryn Grody Actor; Writer Obie Award Winner Jason Grote Playwright, Screenwriter Del Hamilton co-Founder and Artistic Director, 7 Stages Karen Hartman Playwright David Herskovits Founder and Artistic Director, Target Margin Theater Joan Holden Award-Winning Playwright Jeffrey Horowitz Founder and Artistic Director, Theater for a New Audience Advisory Board of The Shakespeare Society and Artistic Directorate of London’s Globe Theatre, Artistic Advisor to the Shakespeare Globe Centre (USA). Holly Hughes Performance Artist, Guggenheim Fellow One of the "NEA 4", whose funding was vetoed for gay content Birgit Huppuch Actor Julia Jarcho Playwright, Director, Performer Morgan Jenness Dramaturge John Jesurun Writer, Director, Multi-Media Artist Jeffrey M. Jones Playwright, Curator - Little Theatre @ Dixon Place, Pataphysics @ The Flea Melanie Joseph Artistic Producer The Foundry Theatre Chris Kam Independent Producer Stephen Kaplin Puppeteer, Theater Designer/Performer Great Small Works and Chinese Theatre Works Melissa Kievman Director Josh Kornbluth Monologist Aaron Landsman Independent Artist Paul Lazar Co-Artistic Director Big Dance Theater Herbert Leibowitz Writer and Editor Maxinne Rhea Leighton Author Robert H. Leonard Director, Professor, Department of Theatre Arts, Virginia Tech Gideon Lester Dramaturge and Curator Former associate artistic director, American Repertory Theatre; former Acting Artistic Director, American Repertory Theatre Roberta Levitow Co-Founder, Theatre Without Borders Irene Lewis Artistic Director Center Stage, Baltimore, Maryland Ethan Lipton Playwright Casey Llewellyn Theater Artist Quincy Long Playwright John Carroll Lynch Actor Kirk Lynn Co-Producing Artistic Director Rude Mechs, Austin, TX Matthew Maguire Co-Artistic Director, Creation Production Company Matthew Maher Actor Judith Malina Actor Director Founder and Artistic Director, The Living Theatre Karen Malpede Playwright, Theater Three Collaborative Nina Mankin Dramaturge, Writer Emily Mann Artistic Director/Playwright McCarter Theatre Center, Princeton, NJ Deborah Margolin Playwright, Actor, Scholar Vijay Mathew Co-Director, American Voices New Play Institute Marin Mazzie Actress, Singer Ellen McLaughlin Playwright; Actor Erin Mee Director, Scholar Swarthmore theater arts professor Greg Mehrten Actor, Director, Writer David Michalek Artist, Photographer Visiting Faculty Member - Yale Divinity School Tyler Micoleau Lighting Designer Tim Miller Performance Artist One of the "NEA 4", whose funding was vetoed for gay content Jennifer Miller Performance Artist, director Founder and Artistic Director of Circus Amok Steve Moore Artistic Director Physical Plant Theater Susan Mosakowski Playwright Co-Artistic Director Creation Production Company David Moscow Actor Erika Munk Critic, Professor Yale School of Drama, theater critic Tom Nelis Actor Jim Nicola Artistic Director New York Theatre Workshop Annie-B Parson Director Co-Founder, Artistic director Big Dance Theater, NYFA and Guggenheim Fellow Sally Ann Parsons Costumer, Craftsman, Designer Shailja Patel Sundance Theatre Fellow 2010 Katie Pearl Director Sybille Pearson Playwright Rockefeller Playwrights Fellowship; founding member of The Playwrights Circle at The New York Theatre Workshop; an Artistic Resident at the Vineyard Theater Ralph Pena Artistic Director, Ma Yi Theater Carla Peterson Director Artistic Director, Dance Theater Workshop Brian Pickett Theater Artist and Educator Member Steering Committee - Theaters Against War (THAW) Catherine Porter Director Co-Artistic Director Peculiar Works Project, Obie Award Winner Ruth Reichl writer; PBS Television host former restaurant critic, NYTimes, former editor in chief, Gourmet magazine, PBS television series host, memoirist Reno Comedian Gordon Rogoff Theater Critic; Director; Professor of Theater Yale School of Drama; Obie Award Winner Jenny Romaine Puppeteer, Theater Artist Great Small Works Avital Ronell Writer, Academic, Literary Critic Ken Rus Schmoll Director Brian H. Scott Theatrical Designer Regine Anna Seckinger, Ph.D. Advisory Board Member, Rude Mechanicals, Austin, TX Jamil Shamasdin Actor Peggy Shaw Performance Artist, Actor, Playwright Christopher Shinn Playwright, Obie Award Winner, Guggenheim Fellow Sarah Schulman Novelist; Playwright Jeanmarie Simpson Theatre/Film Artist Michael Singer Television News Producer Former producer, CBS News Alisa Solomon Theater Critic Director of Arts Concentration, School of Journalism, Columbia Bonnie Stein Performing Arts Administrator, Manager, Project Producer and Coordinator, Executive Director GOH Productions Kris Stone Stage Designer Mark Sussman Scholar, Puppeteer Director. Great Small Works; Concordia University Caridad Svich Playwright, Songwriter, Translator, Editor Bill Talen Director The Church of Life After Shopping Kathleen Tolan Playwright, Actor Basil Twist Puppeteer Obie Award Winner Charlie Varon Playwright, Performer Naomi Wallace Playwright, Screenwriter Anne Washburn Playwright Guggenheim Fellow Donya K. Washington Director Stephen Webber Actor Brenda Wehle Actor Mac Wellman Playwright, Author, Poet, Scholar Donald I. Fine Professor of Play writing at Brooklyn College Anabelle Winograd Writer, Critic, Educator Eunice Wong Actor Kristina Wong Solo Performer and Writer. Recipient of awards from Creative Capital, MAPFUND, two Creation Funds from the National Performance Network, three grants from the Center for Cultural Innovation, three Durfee ARC Grants, and four Artist-in-Residence Awards from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. Had also received residencies from the MacDowell Colony, Atlantic Center for the Arts and the Hermitage in Englewood, FL. Susan Yankowitz Award-Winning Playwright and Librettist David Zellnick Playwright, Screenwriter, Lyricist Cynthia Nixon Actress Portrayed Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series Sex and the City; Emmy, Tony and Grammy Award-winning actress ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com