Two Birds One Stone:
The Israel-Gaza conflict’s reality

Play presents a heartfelt, thought-provoking and charged conversation

By Irwin Rapoport

Updated November 1, 2024

The Israel/Gaza conflict is more than a year old. Tensions have only increased as the war continues without any sense of resolution nor the opportunity for cooler heads to prevail allowing for negotiations for a lasting peace.

Montreal has experienced a wide variety of conflict points, including pro-Palestinian encampments at McGill University and other post-secondary institutions, and the situation is stagnating. This is where the power of art comes into play. We all have our perspectives but hopefully, the power of words and solid acting can have a positive impact on affected communities and contribute to long-lasting and meaningful solutions.

The play Two Birds One Stone, premiering in Montreal at Teesri Duniya Theatre, is based on co-playwrights Rimah Jebr, a Muslim Palestinian, and Natasha Greenblatt, a Jewish Canadian, personal experiences. This heartfelt, thought-provoking and charged conversation explores the essence of friendship and reflects on the search for home and freedom.

Two Birds One Stone is the first production of the theatre company’s 2024-25 season, Staging Freedom, a theatrical response to war through the power of art.

The play is directed by Murdoch Schon with performances by Dalia Charafeddine and Natasha Fagant.

Hamas, Hamas, Hamas! Hamas was not there when my grandma’s house was taken in 1948.

– Rimah

‘My great grandfather hated religion. He found a group that wanted to move to Israel. They didn’t dream of a Jewish state, they dreamt of a home.’

– Natasha

Rahul Varma, the artistic director of Teesri Duniya Theatre, is pleased to present this important show continuing the company’s mandate to encourage dialogue. The company will hold post-show talkbacks. Varma’s overall hope for this season is to mobilize public opinion in pursuit of Palestinian sovereignty, a ceasefire, and long-term peace.

Murdoch Schon hopes the play will make a difference. “Two Birds One Stone is a moving story of allyship amidst a time of occupation, atrocity and grief,” they said. “The play humanizes what we see in the media. Audiences will be inspired to consider how they show up in the world for each other.”

This is the first time the playwrights are stepping back from performing the roles, while still being involved in the creative process. Dalia Charafeddine plays the playwright Rimah Jebr. “Being of Palestinian and Lebanese origin, it is an honour to represent a Palestinian woman on a Montreal stage,” she said. “Many of the questions that Rimah asks herself are ones that I too have asked myself. I hope the play encourages people to always hold onto their empathy and humanity and to move forward in life with an open heart and soul.”

Natasha Fagant is portraying the role of Natasha Greenblatt. “I count myself among the many Canadians who feel overwhelmed trying to comprehend what is going on in the Middle East – guilty for being ignorant but scared of falling for propaganda and doing more harm,” she said. “This feels like something tangible that I can do, though scary for fear of not doing it justice. Two Birds One Stone is a way for me to deepen my understanding of the situation as well as my connection to part of my heritage.”

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Schon and Varma replied to a few questions while preparing for the production:

WM: What are you hoping to inspire in audiences with Two Birds One Stone?

Schon: After attending Two Birds One Stone, I’m hoping audiences will be moved and empowered to ask questions they may not have been asking before. And for those asking big questions of themselves and their communities, I’m hoping they feel a sense of solidarity and knowing they are not alone.

WM: The play examines friends from very different worlds. What did you have to do to highlight the complexities of their relationship?

Schon: We spent a lot of time in rehearsal learning the facts about the occupation of Palestine, and what the realities of this might look like for both of the characters. We spent time developing their friendship and how they might connect as well as push each other.

‘It is a historical first that a Palestine-themed play by a Palestinian-Muslim Canadian and a Jewish Canadian is going up on a Montreal stage.’

– Rahul Varma, the artistic director, Teesri Duniya Theatre

WM: Based on the current situation in the Middle East, do you feel that the play will help people see things through others’ eyes?

Schon: The developing escalation of violence has demanded we rewrite the play’s ending. Two Birds One Stone is current and powerful. I’m so proud of the artists involved. Audiences will be moved by the actors’ embodied performances, the stunning visuals and the incredible sound the designers created.

WM: How does this play fit into your season, Staging Freedom?

Varma: Staging Freedom represents a cultural front to bring local communities together and mobilize public opinion for a lasting and just peace, and freedom from occupation while fighting against Islamophobia and Antisemitism. It is a historical first that a Palestine-themed play by a Palestinian-Muslim Canadian and a Jewish Canadian is going up on a Montreal stage.

WM: Two Birds One Stone brings up strong emotions. How do you see it helping people understand the situation through art?

Varma: This play is a theatrical response to war, occupation, genocide and unending war, which has notably disturbed social peace across Canadian communities, resulting in communal division. One thousand five hundred Israelis and more than 45,000 Palestinians have died. There are 251 Israeli hostages. And there is an entire Palestinian population living like a hostage in an open prison. Our season remembers them equally.

‘Staging Freedom represents a cultural front to bring local communities together and mobilize public opinion for a lasting and just peace, and freedom from occupation while fighting against Islamophobia and Antisemitism.’

WM: Tell us a bit about the season’s next play, Keffiyeh/Made in China.

Varma: Keffiyeh/Made In China, by Palestinian playwright Dalia Taha, consists of eleven episodes bound together in an unfolding story, exploring how even the most intimate relationships subvert ordinary Palestinian life under occupation that has continued for over seven decades. Here is a brief description:

60 Seconds depicts the last 60 seconds of a man’s life before a bullet rips through his eye, splattering blood on a journalist’s camera. His image on TV forces him to consider the previous events and worry about the future.

In Craving Mangoes, parents identify the corpse of a son with a missing arm -– could it be of someone else?

In The Camera Doesn’t Love Anyone, two women tell a story about the way a third woman tells the story of her murdered husband. Can Palestinians avoid talking about their grizzly traumas?

In The Unhappy Writer, two sisters argue over coloured contact lenses, discounts, and who becomes a “real” artist, and what does it reveal?

In Business, a Belgian woman enters a Palestinian shop only to discover that Keffiyeh is no longer made locally, but in China, and fashionistas have appropriated the business.

Crowdedness highlights strains between a Palestinian husband and his wife while they stand in line at a border checkpoint, waiting to be let through.

The concluding episode, Redecoration, explores the theme of the loss of a son – it’s unclear if the boy ever existed.

Keffiyeh/Made In China celebrates fragility, transience, imperfection, collapse, precariousness, unreliability, and collision.

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Two Birds One Stone runs from October 25 to November 5
teesriduniyatheatre.com

Images: Rania Lardjane