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Abraham's Land

An original musical set in Israel and Palestine during the First Intifada, Abraham's Land is a tale of two men brought together by one tragic moment. Ismail, a Palestinian philosophy student, wants the Israelis to see his humanity, but when he takes the stage at a demonstration in East Jerusalem, he is fatally shot by Israeli sergeant Yitzhak, who perceives him as a threat. Devastated to discover that his victim was unarmed, Yitzhak is haunted by Ismail's ghost. Yitzhak disguises himself as a Palestinian and journeys to Gaza to return Ismail’s identity card and ask his family for forgiveness. There, he experiences the pain and humanity of the other side, while confronting his own moral shortcomings. Can Ismail achieve in death, what he could not do in life: get Yitzhak to see him and his family as human beings, worthy of the same rights and opportunities to follow their dreams? Note: this is an edited live capture of a professional stage production.

  • David Grabarkewitz
    Director
  • Lauren Goldman Marshall
    Writer
  • Lauren Goldman Marshall
    Producer
  • Michael Strauss
    Key Cast
    "Yitzhak"
  • François Ben-Saaid
    Key Cast
    "Ismail"
  • Maria Habeeb
    Key Cast
    "Amira"
  • Ben Kerns
    Video Editor
  • Paul Linnes
    Music Director
  • Roger Ames
    Composer
    Pulitzer-nominated
  • David Nafissian
    Composer
  • Paul Linnes
    Composer
  • Kathryn Van Meter
    Choreographer
  • Waseem Sbait
    Choreographer
  • Project Type:
    Feature, Other
  • Genres:
    Drama, Musical Theatre, Political
  • Runtime:
    2 hours 50 minutes 5 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 22, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    450,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Livestream of stage production
    Kirkland, WA
    United States
    July 15, 2021
    World premiere (Livestream 7/15-7/18/2021
  • Palestine Charity Team
    Rafah
    Palestine, State of
    January 18, 2022
    Six screenings at Civic Society Institutions in Rafah, Gaza, January 18-25, 2022
  • YouTube - Theater of Possibility channel
    Seattle, WA
    United States
    September 22, 2024
    newly released under SAG-AFTRA contract
Director Biography - David Grabarkewitz

David Grabarkewitz is a producer, director and educator with undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Hartford’s Hartt Conservatory of Music and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. In addition to serving as Resident Director for the New York City Opera at Lincoln Center, 1995-2010, he served as Artistic and General Director of El Paso Opera, 2009-2015.

The New York Times called his staging of La Boheme “…the best in New York!” and The New Yorker magazine called his work “…inspired direction.” His staging of Madame Butterfly for the New York City Opera won the 2008 Prime Time Emmy Award for Best Live Performance, Music or Dance.

An established educator teaching acting, directing, opera workshop and dialects, he served on the faculty of The Hartt Conservatory of Music’s Opera and Musical Theater Department from 1987-1990 as well as directing the opera workshop program for The University of California at Santa Barbara in their 2015 and 2016 winter terms. He has directed workshops for The New England Conservatory of Music, Louisiana State University and The Boston Conservatory of Music, and has conducted master classes at Juilliard, Hartt, the Boston Conservatory, the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez, the Bangkok International School and the Kingdom of Bhutan’s Royal Academy of Performing Arts.

He directed the world premiere of the opera Twelfth Night for the University of California at Santa Barbara, as well as the premieres of Der Gelbe Klang for the El Paso Museum of Art and SHOT! and The Death of Lincoln. He created the New Opera Workshop in 2013 premiering Der Gelbe Klang and the new musical version of How Green Was My Valley by Roger Ames. With Ames he also founded the Children’s Opera Workshop, uniting 32 young people from both Mexico and the United States to create new works of musical theater in both Spanish and English.

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Director Statement

When approaching the subject matter of Abraham's Land, the musical with which I have been entrusted its premiere, it is best to go to the sources, writer Lauren Goldman Marshall and composer Roger Ames, to help bring the story and characters to life. We also bring onboard the personal reflections and feelings of the cast and designers in interpreting this work.

Within the cast and design team we have artists of Palestinian, Israeli, Iranian, Asian, European, African and mixed heritages, with faiths ranging from Agnosticism to Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Sufism. All of us come together to express our views through the characters that we play and the experience that we can bring to you as an audience. It is a privilege for me to combine these viewpoints in this work, along with the views and gifts of the creators, to examine the struggle over this region through the lens of a company of artists who request that you consider the ethical intelligence and human integrity of borders and walls. We also ask that you consider the baseness and humanness of both violence and hope, and the power of personal strength.

Thank you,

David Grabarkewitz
Director
Abraham's Land