Feature - Gloria Tessler’s new play Unveiling Hagar

WHILE many think the conflict between Arab and Jew in the Middle East can never be resolved, there is hope for the future, according to the Jewish playwright and journalist Gloria Tessler.
Her new play, Unveiling Hagar, which opens at Hampstead’s New End Theatre on Wednesday, not only uses the Genesis as its leitmotif – Hagar was the Egyptian hand-maiden who became the mother of Abraham’s son Ishmael – but is a challenging modern love story.
At its heart is the story of an ageing Jewish widower, Max Goldwater, who falls in love with a young Palestinian girl, Layla, devoted to the liberation of her country. Max carries with him both the burden of his father’s wartime memories of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp and collective memory of centuries of Jewish persecution that led to the creation of Israel.
And so the drama comes from Max and his lovely Layla facing their own war-torn histories, their own family roles and the struggle to retain trust, loyalty and identity against the intensity of the international conflict.
“Although it is arrogant to think that any piece of theatre can help reduce the conflict, theatre does offer a neutral ground to debate such issues,” Gloria, who has visited Israel many times, told me. “Serious writers are always committed to moving things forward – or at least to persuading people to look at things more creatively, rather than taking up black and white positions.
“There are no simple answers – there never are – but I would like audiences who come to Unveiling Hagar to go home feeling challenged by some of the ideas in the play and, hopefully, to open their minds both to the tragedy on both sides and the sense of optimism that could still grow. Of course we must always hope.”
She has also tried to introduce some humour into the play, which was conceived some years ago and has gone through numerous development changes. “It’s not all serious stuff,” adds Gloria. “I have tried to inject humour, especially in regard to the ignorance and prejudice of some of the other characters.
“There is also music – very important in drama, I think. Rebecca Hewes will play some of the Bach cello sonatas on stage, and we hope to use other music, too.”
She believes the New End Theatre will attract the right audience for the play, which is directed by Ben de Wynter, who directed Gloria’s first play, The Windmill, at the Union Theatre in Southwark.
Meanwhile, Gloria, who lives in Hendon, insists that while it is unrealistic to expect a resolution of the Middle East conflict in our life-time, she declares: “We must be optimistic and recognise that important political changes have taken place over the years.
“I believe it is the  still, small voices of grassroots people, not those in high politics who could make it happen, if we were all prepared to listen and, in some way, change.”

• Unveiling Hagar, which stars Barry Davis, Ellie Dickens, Shani Erez, Jennie Lathan, David Sparks and Richard Woolnough, runs at the New End Theatre, New End, Hampstead, NW3, from January 20-February 13. Tickets £15, concessions £12. 0870 033 2733

GERALD ISAAMAN