Nadav Burstein, co-founder of Floating Shed, is set to bring his powerful new play, Rebels & Patriots, to the Edinburgh Fringe.
This raw and multilingual production delves into the complexities of Israeli conscription and its impact on young lives.In this exclusive interview, Nadav shares insights into the personal stories that inspired the play, the unique elements of its production, and the profound themes it explores.
Rebels & Patriots will be performed at Pleasance Courtyard from July 31st to August 26th (excluding August 7th, 14th, and 21st). Tickets are available now.
You’re bringing Rebels & Patriots to Pleasance Courtyard at Edinburgh Fringe. What can you tell us about the show?
Rebels & Patriots started as notes in my diary while being a soldier in the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) at a time when I was going through the process of getting out of the army, as I struggled with the political and personal realities in which I was living. It’s about young people and their pursuit for meaning and peace, and the various difficulties of life within an armed conflict. I’m developing the show with a close friend and collaborator, Tarik Badwan, a Palestinian actor and theatre maker, to create a piece of theatre that’s a testament for coexistence and a call to end the bloodshed in the region.
The play is based on your personal experiences and those of your friends in the IDF. How did you translate these real-life stories into a theatrical performance?
I read Albert Camu’s ‘The Myth Of Sisyphus’ during my service and its safe to say that book saved my life. I found that I best understood the complicated reality I was born into when looked at it through a creative lens. Seeing the absurdity of reality gave me great meaning, and so exploring those personal experiences through in a theatrical space made sense. Our experiences are narratives – stories – and they deserve to have the freedom to be seen as such.
Rebels & Patriots features a multilingual cast and incorporates physical movement and live music. How do these elements enhance the storytelling?
I always work physically and with music when creating work. There are things in this strange world that simply cannot be expressed through language. I think true love, true grief and other deep human experiences are inexpressible in essence – that’s why people wrote about them so much throughout history, to try and find a way to comprehend them. That’s an interesting space for me and the rest of the ensemble creatively: finding ways to express the inexpressible.
The show tackles heavy themes such as conscription, protest, and mental health. What message do you hope the audience takes away from Rebels & Patriots?
The horrors back in my homeland have reached a low point. The lowest I’ve seen it in my life time, and perhaps in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It’s never been more clear to me that we must demand peace and we must demand equal rights to all the inhabitants of that piece of land. The bloodshed must end and the Israeli government must be held accountable for its disproportionate use of gunpower in Gaza. There are many messages in our play, but I suppose that an important one is that peace can be achieved, and the voices for it cannot and will not be silenced, and that until we get there, the human life cost will just keep on growing, so the time to act is now.
What were some of the challenges you faced while developing this play, and how did you overcome them?
Working in an Ensemble of Israeli, Palestinian and British actors, we have to engage with very honest, difficult political conversations about Israel and Palestine. We can really feel how we experience the conflict in different ways and how at times we believe opposing things to be truth – after all, we were brought up around different narratives. But I suppose that that’s why this project is so important. We’re living in times where polarization is at its peak, and most people in Israel, Palestine, UK and globally rush to choose sides, find who’s to blame and who to stand against. Our work proves that with real listening and honest communication (even though we don’t agree on everything) we find ways to work together and practice coexistence.
What would you say to anyone thinking of booking to see Rebels & Patriots?
Many people have a very set idea of what they think the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is. We want to invite people to come and see a real story of what the conflict can look like and what lessons can be learnt from the experiences of those four young men. We don’t have many answers – but hopefully we can spark conversations and encourage listening. That’s the only way to plant seeds for a better future.
