About The Oranges
written and performed by Robbie Gringras
developed and directed by Peta Lily
“moving and gripping” (Sunday Telegraph)
Our hero walks on stage and falteringly begins his job interview. He is keen to be accepted as aliya shaliach – a job persuading Jews to emigrate to Israel. He believes he has the ideal credentials: he is in love with Israel, and he has a great sense of humour. But he is late. Very late. Thirty five days late. At the same time as persuading the panel why he would be ideal for the job, he must also explain why he is so late.
“bleakly, blackly funny” (Sunday Times)
As our hero begins the interview, he also betrays signs of a terrible breakdown. Always talking of the romance of Israel, it is clear he is nursing a terrible wound. We gradually come to understand that our hero has been deeply and dreadfully involved in a suicide bombing. Throughout the ‘interview’ he attempts to make sense of the events that led a Palestinian baker to suicide terror, a man to try to save a murderer, and a father to almost lose a daughter. Tragically, excruciatingly, in a desperate attempt to gain perspective and escape his daily nightmares, our hero tries to make us laugh.
“one-man theatrical border conflict, with Gringras madly stomping across … the jagged line that divides laughter and pain” (Vancouver Sun)
About The Oranges is a courageous, disturbing, moving, honest, and often hilarious look at ‘the situation’ in Israel during the period of the Second Intifada. Writer Robbie Gringras has created a tragedy that often moves an audience to tears - not only through the raw unpeeling of the trauma of terror, but also at the pain of a man struggling to hold on to his beautiful yet bloodied dream.
“a heartbreaking prayer for peace” (The Scotsman)
About the show:
About The Oranges was inspired by several true events that took place in Israel and the West Bank during the Second Intifada. Its first public performance was in Melbourne Australia in June 2003. Since then the show went through several stages of development, culminating in its successful run at Vancouver's Chutzpah Festival in February 2005, and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in the Summer of 2004. (Both tours sponsored by the Israeli Foreign Office.) The show has also performed in theatres on the East and West Coast of the US, theatres throughout Israel, campuses throughout the US and UK, and Lilian Baylis Theatre in London. The Hebrew language version of the same show played at Tel Aviv's Tzavta Theatre, and a Spanish-language version Muhammed y Yo performed in Mexico where it won Best Solo Show of the year.
