By Keri Ann Yednak

The Compass Theatre is presenting its third annual “Resilience of the Spirit Festival,” which runs through August 5 in Hillcrest. The festival features seven plays that explore the perseverance of the human spirit, emphasizing the extraordinary courage that it takes to endure torture, persecution, and even death. After investing your time watching these remarkable performances, you’ll be sure to have a greater appreciation for the small pleasures in life.

This summer one of the highlighted plays is “Welcome to Ramallah,” written by Sonja Linden and Adah Kay. The theatrical production examines the hardships of war and the individuals it affects, meanwhile providing drama, romance and even comic relief. The show is set in the Middle East, where incessant violence between the Israelis and Palestinians has taken its toll. In “Welcome to Ramallah” a Jewish man’s dying wish acts as a catalyst to possible reconciliation between the two rival sides.

The tale begins with the reunion of two Jewish sisters in the city of Ramallah, a Palestinian city located in the West Bank of Israel. Nat, the eldest sister, has journeyed from the suburbs of the U.S. to younger sister Mara’s home in Ramallah in order to bury the ashes of their deceased father at his beloved kibbutz in Galilee.

Ironically, Mara has befriended two Palestinian men, Salim and his nephew Daoud, who also have fond memories of the same village, before it was taken away from them and turned into a kibbutz. This revelation strikes up a series of intense conversations and awkward moments throughout the evening. In between the chatter, consisting mostly of backhanded compliments, are the startling sounds of guns, helicopters and bombs just outside the door.

Dale Morris, producing artistic director of The Compass Theatre, was drawn to “Welcome to Ramallah” because the script tells of the Israel conflict from the Palestinian perspective, a vantage point that most Americans may not see clearly. As the character of Daoud says in the play, “We need to know more than the stories we grew up with.”

“I think what these two Jewish playwrights are trying to tell us is that the truth is okay,” Morris said. “There is evil in everybody and it is shocking to see how it unravels.”

Playwrights Sonja Linden and Adah Kay collaborated on the project due to Linden’s passion for expressing human rights through performance, and Kay’s past experiences writing about Palestinian society. Their chemistry is apparent when one gives earnest heed to the play’s thought-provoking dialogue.

With a cast of only four characters, each eloquently delivers their powerful message to the audience in a relatively quick time frame; the entire play runs just over an hour. Haig Koshkarian, who plays Salim the Palestinian elder, said he was impressed with the evolution of the characters throughout the short play. “It reflects the conceptions and misconceptions on both sides — Israeli and Palestinian,” Koshkarian said.

When each of the characters enters the room they are clutching tightly to their stereotypical beliefs about the opposition. When in reality, they are apathetic due to simple lack of education about Israel’s history. For example, in one climactic scene in the play, Daoud admits most Palestinians do not know about the Jewish Holocaust. On the other hand, Nat is living proof that most Jews don’t know about how Palestinians were alienated from their land centuries before that. From then on it has been a constant battle of “who’s the victim?”

Charlie Riendeau, director of “Welcome to Ramallah,” believes that a political solution begins with individuals understanding the things they have in common. He along with his cast, crew and The Compass Theatre invite theatergoers to literally participate in a debate after the show — but please remain unbiased.

Mara: “I want you to promise me something.”
Nat: “What?”
Mara: “That you’ll keep an open mind tonight, that you’ll listen.”

The Compass Theatre is located at 3704 6th Avenue in Hillcrest. “Welcome to Ramallah” will be performed on Sundays at 7 p.m. and Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m., through Aug. 4. For tickets and information call (619) 688-9210 or visit www.compasstheatre.com