The Fever Chart - Three Visions of the Middle East

Synopsis

Three distinct but thematically related stories which explore the possibility of humanity in the most inhumane conditions. In settings which range from a Zoo in Rafah, Palestine to a hospital in Tel Aviv and a yard in Iraq, the play draws us into a world of war and high emotion. The writer explores political tensions by grounding them in the human issues of love, life and death, moving us from the specific to the universal. Internationally acclaimed American playwright Naomi Wallace is best known for her deeply political plays, including One Flea Spare and The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek, and is the recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship.

Our Review:

Theo Bosanquet - 12 March 2010

The Fever Chart, which hits London following a national tour, is a triptych of 'visions' about conflicts in the Middle East – two are concerned with Israel/Palestine, the third with Iraq.

Written by American Naomi Wallace, they're by no means easily digestible accounts, peppered as they are with metaphors and poetic aphorisms. Originally written as three separate pieces, this Pilot Theatre production places them under a single umbrella with mixed results.

The first and final playlets utilise animals as metaphors for the oppressed. In the opening piece, titled A State of Innocence, an Israeli soldier-turned-zoo keeper (Daniel Rabin) is accused by a Palestinian woman (Lisa Caruccio Came) of allowing a rare breed of turtle to get crushed by tanks. In the closing monologue, also featuring Rabin, a pigeon fancier describes the devastating effect of the 1991 UN sanctions in Iraq.

The central piece (Between this Breath and You) is the...

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