Currently in workshop, Lour Yasin’s AREA D Is a Bright Candle in a Dark Time

The Story So Far: Israel is hosting Eurovision in Tel Aviv, and the theme of this year’s event is “Unity”. “I know some of you aren’t happy with our chosen finalists,” says Versace-wearing, fake sincerity-oozing Sheila Rich, the Israeli broadcaster. “But we assure you that this was a step in the right direction, to a more inclusive country free of conflict.”

The crowd bellows their distinct disapproval. The reason for their condemnation is that the group chosen to represent Israel is AREA D, a rock band made up of young Palestinian musicians. They are Rami Zein of the West Bank (Keys), Dessa Rashid of West Jerusalem (Bass), Samir Total of Haifa (Drums), and Athena Jamil of East Jerusalem (Guitar). The quartet was, as they acknowledge, “thrown together” just three months before by a music teacher as part of a school assignment, and they are now on one of the biggest stages in the world—representing a country that mostly doesn’t want to support them. But they are defiant in the face of this. Rather than perform the song that was expressly chosen for them, they launch into a power-punk anthem of revolt against the system of oppression they have been trapped in all their lives.

“You count your money and swim in the millions,” they sing, heads held high, pointing at the crowd. “Benefitting off of shooting civilians; Cause you’re a teenage war profiteer; You make everyone live in fear.” This act of insurgence, of course, gets the plug pulled on them immediately.

We then shift into “How-Did-We-Get-Here” mode, to a flashback of the new group getting stopped at a checkpoint—an ominous scene of barbed wire, teenage soldiers, and AK-47s. Despite their unified plight, the band members are seen barely tolerating each other; they argue (in the song “You Think You Have It Worse”) over which of them is taking the hardest knocks.

The band is arrested by Sheila Rich’s teenage daughter Sarah, former beauty pageant contestant and their own classmate, who has joined the local military. Sarah is an American from NYC, who hilariously switches her accent from British Estuary to French to Cockney for no apparent reason.  The group chastises her for joining their oppressors, who they see as co-opting the name of God for their own purposes.

“We do weaponize religion,” concedes Sarah, “but it’s such a smart political tactic.”

At Sarah’s behest the band films her performing TikTok videos, which constitute her own pretentious EuroVision audition. But to Sarah’s disgust it is eventually AREA D who are chosen, and told to perform a propaganda-infused song, “Unity”, that purports to champion inclusivity over conflict.

“It’s not a conflict, it’s a f-ing apartheid!” screams Dessa, leading into the rousing concluding song of Act 1, “Apartheid Anthem.”

AREA D is work in progress, but its first act already constitutes a Grand Slam for Lour Yasin, who wrote the book, lyrics, music, directs (with assistant Sari Klainberg), and stars as Athena in the initial readings. The songs soar and glisten with humor and heart and create excitement for the next Act. It’s a moving tribute to the real people that our now facing a most desperate situation, and a testament to the power of creation and connection in creating a glimmer of hope to hang on to.

A Reading of Act 1 of AREA D at the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRT9H0QiU-w