NC's Theatre Or Presents TO PAY THE PRICE 5/23-6/14 For Fest Of Jewish Theater

Theater Or*, a North Carolina non-profit theater company, will present the world premiere of Peter-Adrian Cohen's To Pay the Price May 23-June 14, 2009, at Theater Three, 311 West 43rd Street. The production is a selection of the Festival of Jewish Theater and Ideas, presented by Untitled Theater Company #61.

When playwright Cohen discovered the letters of a young Israeli, killed in action at age 30, the young man's voice would not let go of him. "I suppose it was something to do with courage, something to do with passion, that your life has to have a theme, focus - that elusive quality of ‘meaning.' This young Israeli also had that quality of complete lack of fear - which does not exist of course. It was really how he dealt with fear: respecting it, preparing for the danger it signaled. From him," says the playwright, "I learned that a man who is not afraid in the face of danger isn't a hero; he is an idiot." What makes this play timely and poignant is that this young Israeli was Jonathan "Yoni" Netanyahu, older brother of Israel's current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and of Iddo Netanyahu, writer and physician.

Yoni Netanyahu led one of the most daring military operations of all time - the raid on Entebbe Airport to free passengers from a hijacked airliner - and Yoni was the only commando killed. Using letters Yoni left behind as well as personal accounts from Yoni's friends and the woman he loved, Cohen builds a complex portrait of a man who reflected on his extraordinary struggle to live an ordinary life. Weaving Yoni's story with those of succeeding generations of young Israelis, the playwright illuminates the toll on Israel of a never-ending war. Recreating the harrowing hostage rescue, the play explores a personal and cultural tragedy of our 21st century world, one where war becomes an everyday word, ingrained in the lives of more people with each passing generation. It also depicts, however, the heart's amazing resiliency to heal, and to love.

Director Robert Kalfin was hooked with the universality of the play and its ability to speak to the tragic long-range effects war has on succeeding generations of Israelis. "This could apply to any country who has the same cloud hovering time-without-end over its society: the Palestinians, Afghanistan, the Congo..."

Theatre Or's Producing Artistic Director and Association for Jewish Theater board member Diane Gilboa is delighted to have the opportunity to present the play in New York. "We're grateful to Untitled Theater Company #61 for creating the festival. We presented To Pay the Price as a staged reading last August in Chicago as part of our OnStageIsrael Festival of provocative Israeli plays at Victory Gardens Biograph Theater. We're developing a niche for producing American premieres of Israeli plays - unique works that pose questions of universal urgency, help us reflect about our values in new ways, and promote cross-cultural dialogue. Although a Swiss wrote this play, it's a story with a point of view I couldn't find in contemporary Israeli drama. Just as the playwright felt compelled to write it, I felt compelled to produce it."

Tickets can be purchased through the box office at 212-352-3101 for $18 or on-line at www.theatermania.com

Festival of Jewish Theater and Ideas Presented by Untitled Theater #61:
For more about the Festival of Jewish Theater and Ideas, please visit www.untitledtheater.com.