Julia Pascal

Sex, political violence in Stockholm, Tel Aviv and Paris.
Political murder in suburban London.
Death, love and homicide in New York.
War in the belly of a whale.

These are the themes in Julia Pascal's latest collection which takes place in London in 1946, Europe in 1982, Manhattan today and in a whale at anytime.

When Warsaw Ghetto-escapee Sarah visits the Venice Ghetto she happens to witness a group of actors staging a dress rehearsal of The Merchant of Venice, upon this chance encounter Sarah is confronted by the terrible story of 'The Jew' which touches her own life.

Through this emotive and provocative play Julia Pascal re-works Shakespeare’s controversial text, transposing the fervent theme of anti-Semitism raised by the bard, playing it out in a contemporary setting. Challenging the portrayal of 'The Jew' that for many years has dominated society's attitudes towards the Jewish people, Pascal ambitiously places her own text within Shakespeare's classic, producing a thoroughly thought-provoking and original work.

When Warsaw Ghetto-escapee Sarah visits the Venice Ghetto she happens to witness a group of actors staging a dress rehearsal of The Merchant of Venice, upon this chance encounter Sarah is confronted by the terrible story of 'The Jew' which touches her own life.

Crossing Jerusalem describes 24 hours in the life of an Israeli family in March 2002, as they cross Jerusalem at the beginning of the latest intifada. Over this 24 hours, personal and political history burst into the present. A complex family drama explodes in the most politically tense city in the world.

The Golem is inspired by the medieval Yiddish legend. This story, set in Prague, explores what happens when a monster is contructed to defend his community. This version is written for children.

Year Zero is a bitter-sweet satire inspired by interviews conducted in the north of France, where Communists, Gaulists, collaborators and those who were children during the 1940s, provided the original source of material. The play exposes the day to day experiences of the men and women who suffered or profited from those zero years.

Joan of Arc has, over five centuries, proved an irresistible and enduring icon for an extremely diverse group of people both within and without France. St Joan is a satire based on a Jewish Black Londoner who dreams she is the legendary Catholic Saint.

New York in the late 1930s: a once-famous Yiddish actress gives her theatre business over to her three daughters. The Yiddish Queen Lear is a story of love, infedelity, betrayal and exile, which examines the moment when Jewish East European and American cultures mix, on the eve of the Holocaust. Both a free reworking of Shakespeare’s King Lear and a homage to the lost world of Yiddish theatre, The Yiddish Queen Lear is a vibrant, funny and tragic study of the clashes and connections between two very different worlds.

"This play is an affecting and electic treat." Evening Standard (The Yiddish Queen Lear)

Woman In The Moon

Set in the United States, England and Germany, between 1920 and 2001, Woman In The Moon is a dream play inspired by both the legend of Faust and the testimonies of French, Austrian and German survivors from Camp Dora. It explores the connections between the US space programme, the V1 and V2 bombers, and the slave labour in the Third Reich.

"Brave, intelligent and desperately moving." The Guardian (Woman In The Moon)

Includes the plays Theresa, A Dead Woman on Holiday and The Dybbuk

Presented as a trilogy at the New End Theatre in 1995 before touring much of Europe, The Dybbuk pays homage to Anski’s great Russian classic. Set in a ghetto in Eastern Europe in 1942, it traces the final moments of five irreligious Jews. A Dead Woman on Holiday is a love story set during the Nuremberg trials. Theresa is based on secret research into the Channel Island occupation by the Nazis and the collaboration of the residents with the Holocaust. The play is still banned there.