The play is based on Hare's response to the Israel/Palestine separation barrier. According to press materials, while Berlin looks at a place where, 20 years ago, a wall came down, Wall is about a place where, right now, a wall is going up. Hare comments, "I felt after writing Berlin that the natural answer to it was Wall." Since the playwright first visited Israel and the Palestinian territories to write Via Dolorosa, he has regularly been back to the region. Now he offers a 40-minute study of the Israel/Palestine separation barrier, which will one day stretch 486 miles and be over four times as long as the Berlin Wall – and in places, twice as high.
In a press statement, Dominic Cooke, artistic director of the Royal Court, commented, "In 1997 David wrote his acclaimed Via Dolorosa, the result of a journey to Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. Having regularly returned to the region he has responded with this remarkable investigation into the history and philosophy behind the construction of the separation barrier between these territories. It appears as if our major writers are very moved by the current situation in the Middle East and it's exciting to be able to open up the debate further on the subject with David's powerful and informative piece, which he will perform for three nights in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs. It's also serendipitous that we are able to programme Wall alongside Mark Ravenhill's new play about the fall of the Berlin Wall, Over There. Both plays address physical embodiments of political divides, and both raise important issues about the way human beings relate to each other in times of conflict, and in peacetime. We are delighted to welcome David Hare and Stephen Daldry (who will direct) back to the Royal Court with such a thought-provoking play."
The two pieces will be published together by Faber as "Berlin/Wall" on March 12.
Hare and Daldry previously collaborated on the solo monologue, Via Dolorosa and the films "The Reader" and "The Hours."
To book tickets contact the box office at 020 7565 5000 or visit www.royalcourttheatre.com.
