The Other Body and Artability. Presented by Israeli Stage in partnership with the Berklee College of Music and the Berklee Institute for Arts Education at David Friend Recital Hall, Boston, and April 7.Free.israelistage.com.
The Othering Project, Presented by Israeli Stage and produced by Bunker Hill Community College at A300 Auditorium, Boston, April 9.Free.israelistage.com
For Nataly Zukerman, ''The stage is my refuge.'' The 39 year old Israel-born playwright-performance artist, as she has been telling students at various Hub universities in her seminal original work "The Other Body", has been making an on-going journey of self-realization and empowerment in the world of the theater. Sustaining a severe neural back injury at a summer camp at the age of 12 yet free from crutches four years later, the 2018 Israeli Stage artist-in-residence has discovered over the years that ''On stage, I can control what you see of me."
Video of her recent Boston University performance of her solo piece "The Other Body" and "Artability"-an interactive follow-up during which she talks about her unseen disability, outlines her singular artistic path and answers questions from audience members-clearly demonstrates Zukerman's striking commitment to that control. While candid about the impact of her injury on her early passion for gymnastics and ballet, she has refused to settle for a reclusive life. Instead her choices have included drama class at age 14, behind the scenes movement instruction later, a degree in performance from Tel Aviv University, on-going teaching at a high school and serving as the artistic director of a summer Israeli performance festival in Bat Yam. Lamenting the paucity of stage characters with a limp-she mentions Oedipus and Richard the Third, she nevertheless has continued to develop her acting-in her native Israel as well as Scotland. "Practice makes perfect,'' she maintains.
That practice includes holding up telling statements and questions-some very positive, some ambiguous and some disturbingly personal-that challenge audience members to come to terms with their own reactions. Look for compliments such as ''You're amazing" and curious comments such as "I love your scars." There are also possibly over-the-line questions such as ''Does it bother you when you have sex?"
According to Israeli Stage artistic director Guy Ben-Aharon, honing her skills has also included Zukerman making strong use of her own journey. "She actually has focused on her own story for inspiration for shows when performing, "he explained. "Outside of that, she's been a teacher, dramaturg, and a director. She told me she has the hopes of directing and performing in 'Hedda (Gabler)'!"
With Ben-Aharon directing, Zukerman is also partnering with acclaimed Hub actor Nael Nacer (three IRNE Awards among his honors) in ''The Othering Project.'' Here both confront their respective challenges. For French-born Nacer-who immigrated to the United States after high school, that confrontation involves dealing with perceptions and presumptions about his half-Djiboutian (paternal), half-French (maternal) ancestry.
"Nael plays Nael, and Nataly plays Nataly,"Ben-Aharon alerted. "Only the lens with which we see them is very curated. This 60-minute performance is an exploration of what life is like in their shoes at key moments when they feel 'bothered' in their life; what's in Nataly's head when she plans to take a step; a time a group of girls laughed at Neal on the T, calling him Osama, a moment when Nataly first realized her niece will be at a disadvantage in life because she speaks Hebrew with an Arabic accent, the evolution of Nael's beard, and why he grows it/shaves it." Ben-Aharon contended, "It's a very human approach to theatre, and unlike any play we've ever done before. It's all based on true life, and on conversations Nataly, Neal and I had over the course of these past three weeks, as well as multiple Skype conversations before we were all on the same continent."
During that time, Ben-Aharon has become very fond of the work "The most memorable part for me," he said,'' is the last part of the show, where she asks an audience member to go on a date. It's a funny, sweet, touching exploration of the romantic life of an invisibly disabled person; at what point do you mention your disability? Is it your responsibility to make the other person feel comfortable? What thoughts run in your head when someone reveals something like that of their identity?"
Asked about the possibility of Zukerman eventually performing with Israeli Stage, Ben-Aharon revealed," We're in conversation about continuing work on "The Othering Project": this performance at Bunker Hill is the beginning of the journey with that piece. Devised pieces take a long time to develop and finesse, and I am thrilled to share that there is a theatre in Israel that has shown interest in working to expand the piece through a residency there. With that in motion, Bostonians who've engaged with Nataly during this visit can look forward to seeing her and her work again in the future.