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Join us on Facebook
and Twitter and follow Thurman E. Scott’s exciting journey to Israel!
For the next two weeks ATW’s Artistic Director and Founder will explore
the conflict in Israel and Palestine, teach classes to local theatre and
film artists, and work on a powerful new film - - read Mr. Scott’s
message below to learn more!
Don’t forget to join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Warm regards,
The
Actors Theatre Workshop
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A message from
Thurman E. Scott, Artistic Director, Executive Producer and Founder
Dear Friends,
I have just arrived in Israel, where I’m very happy
to be working on a powerful new film that examines the conflict from the
perspective of Israeli and Palestinian people. Traveling in Israel
and Palestine I’ll have the opportunity to experience the complexities
of the struggle first hand and hopefully bring some modicum of light to
an immensely challenging situation.
One
reason this trip is so special to me is that it allows me to share the
foundation of my background. As a young student actor I had
the privilege to train with the great acting teachers of the 20th century - - these luminaries were the founders of the Group Theatre
(which was the foundation of American theatre as a whole) and came from
Russian Jewish backgrounds. They developed a social and political
consciousness that reflected the early struggles around the
establishment of Israel. They had experienced the tumultuous European
conflicts and became voices of dissent against injustice wherever it
happened in the world, particularly in the early Labor and Civil Rights
movements in America. I am a product of their teachings.
I see my trip as an opportunity
to hopefully loan any insights I may have and reconnect myself to the
spirit of those
early visionaries, whose
understanding of injustice was truly borderless. I’ll be holding classes
for Israeli and Palestinian students who will work together on a
project dealing with the pertinent issues their communities contend with
today. I want to learn and share ideas with the people I encounter so
we can hopefully gain new impressions of the conflict that will play
upon our minds and spirits.
In my work I wish to open up curiosity among all those that
participate so that hopefully a new vision of the conflict can emerge
that will bring some respite of peace that the people so deeply deserve.
If I’m so blessed as to lend my hand in some small way to this effort, I
will feel I’m upholding the legacy of those great individuals who
helped shape me as a person - - and I know their hearts will be
gladdened.
As I start to work on the film, I’m reminded of the
great hatreds and seeming impossibility of the conflicts we overcame in
WW I and WW II, and the great racial, ethnic and religious
persecution we’ve surmounted. The complexities that took place in the
first and second World Wars realigned the world. The global conflicts
that have taken place since then in many ways have been repercussions of
those early struggles. Our contemporary history has shown us that with
faith and honest effort human beings can overcome great divides. Our
former enemies are now our best friends. Our worldwide economies are
intertwined and we exchange, communicate and cooperate each day as we
implement foreign policy. And just a few years ago we were dropping
bombs and locked into a violent spiral of butchery.
We
need to reconnect ourselves with the lessons of history. And when we
have the curiosity and courage to reexamine the past, we’ll realize that
nothing is impossible. It’s this belief that gives me courage and
faith that on this journey I can join the spirit and legacy that helped
us to rise above the great divides of our past - - when we drew on our
collective consciousness to confront great hatreds and found a way out
of the darkness. It is my hope that once again this collective
consciousness will become manifest in all of us, and in our elected
leaders. And when it does the majesty of old will be reborn, and men and
women, young and old will stand up and say “We are a collective
consciousness that embodies light. No more will war dominate our being.
Hope will alight and guide our vision to lead us out of the darkness.”
Sincerely,
Thurman
E. Scott
Artistic
Director, Executive Producer and Founder
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