Julia Pascal is a British playwright and

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

Biography

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, Pascal's stage plays include three grouped together as ''The Holocaust Trilogy''. The first of these is ''Theresa'', based on historical accounts of a Jewish woman in

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

during the German occupation in the Second World War. Original music for the play was composed by

Kyla Greenbaum Kyla Betty Greenbaum (5 February 1922 - 15 June 2017) was a British pianist and composer, the younger sister of conductor and composer Hyam Greenbaum. She gave the first UK performance of Arnold Schoenberg’s Piano Concerto in 1945 and the firs ...

. It is followed by ''A Dead Woman on Holiday'', which is set during the

Nuremberg Trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945 ...

, followed by her adaptation of Solomon Anski's ''

The Dybbuk ''The Dybbuk'', or ''Between Two Worlds'' (russian: Меж двух миров �ибук}, trans. ''Mezh dvukh mirov ibuk'; yi, צווישן צוויי וועלטן - דער דִבּוּק, ''Tsvishn Tsvey Veltn – der Dibuk'') is a play by ...

''. '' Crossing Jerusalem'', is about the conflict in the Middle East, ''The Golem'', a version of the Prague myth of the

Golem A golem ( ; he, , gōlem) is an animated, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is entirely created from inanimate matter (usually clay or mud). The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late 16th-century ...

for young audiences, ''St Joan'' a satire based on a Jewish Black Londoner who dreams she is

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...

and ''Year Zero'' which reveals World War II stories from

Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...

. In 2007, her adaptation of ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. Although classified as ...

'' was staged at the Arcola Theatre and printed as ''The Shylock Play'' in 2009. Her autobiographical essay "Prima Ballerina Assoluta" appeared in a irago Presscollection ''Truth, Dare or Promise''. Her other plays include ''The Yiddish Queen Lear'' and ''Woman In The Moon''.

Oberon Press Oberon Press is an independent Canadian literary publisher founded in 1966. It focuses mainly on Canadian fiction—particularly short stories—and poetry, but also publishes criticism, history, biography and autobiography. Oberon has published ...

publishes the texts of her plays. Pascal was a

NESTA Nesta (formerly NESTA, National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) is an innovation foundation based in the UK. The organisation acts through a combination of programmes, investment, policy and research, and the formation of part ...

Dreamtime Fellow in 2006 and Writer in Residence at the

Wiener Library The Wiener Holocaust Library () is the world's oldest institution devoted to the study of the Holocaust, its causes and legacies. Founded in 1933 as an information bureau that informed Jewish communities and governments worldwide about the pe ...

in 2007 with a Leverhulme Grant. Her archive is held by the

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

where she was Writer in Residence in 2003. Pascal's television drama documentary for the BBC, ''Charlotte and Jane'' won awards from BAFTA and the

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

. Her journalism has been published in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

''.''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' and ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

''. ''The Dybbuk'' premiered in London at the

New End Theatre The New End Theatre, Hampstead, was an 80-seat fringe theatre venue in London, at 27 New End in the London Borough of Camden which operated from 1974 until 2011. It was founded in 1974 by Buddy Dalton in the converted mortuary of the now-defunc ...

, Hampstead in July 1992, then the

Lilian Baylis Theatre Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-sea ...

. Since 1992 it has played in Munich at the Festival of Jewish Theatre, at Maubeuge's International Theatre Festival, in Poland (

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

tour), Sweden, Belgium and a major British regional tour. ''The Dybbuk'' had its US premiere at

Theater for the New City Theater for the New City, founded in 1971 and known familiarly as "TNC", is one of New York City's leading off-off-Broadway theaters, known for radical political plays and community commitment. Productions at TNC have won 43 Obie Awards and the P ...

in New York City in August 2010. ''The Wedding Party'' (known as ''Bloody Wedding'') was premiered at The Ohrid Festival 2012, Macedonia and was performed at The Actor's Centre, London in 2013. Her play ''Nineveh'' was produced by Theatre Témoin at Riverside Studios in 2013. ''St Joan'' was produced at the Edinburgh Festiva in August 2014 at The Bedlam Theatre. Pascal's play ''Crossing Jerusalem'' became the centre of controversy in early 2016 when the Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center’s Cultural Arts Theatre in North Miami-Dade cut short the play's schedule, bending to members of the Jewish community who found the play to be critical of Israel. The ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a List of communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida, city in western Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the M ...

'' said the incident "has left raw feelings among those who call the cancellation a capitulation to politics and those who say the play was deeply and needlessly hurtful". Pascal protested that “the intent of the play was to show the complexity of Israeli life”, and called the early closure "censorship." ''

Forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

'' magazine commented: "The controversy mirrors others faced by American JCCs over media perceived to be critical of Israel, notably in Washington and New York".Miami JCC Scraps 'Troublesome' Play About Israel
The Forward, Jan 18, 2016 Crossing Jerusalem was produced at the Karlsruhe Staatstheater as Mittendurch Jerusalem translated by Thomas Huber. In 2016, Pascal received her PhD from

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

's Theatre, Film and Television Department.

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

awarded her a Research Fellowship in 2017. She is an Associate Research Fellow in the School of Arts at Birkbeck University of London and a Visiting Lecturer at City University on the MA Theatre Writing course. She teaches Theatre at St Lawrence University's London Study Abroad Program. In 2019-2020 she is Writer in Residence at Dyspla. In 2019 her play inspired by Kurdish women soldiers, ''Blueprint Medea'', premiered at The Finborough Theatre, London.

References

External links

*https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/24/women-theatre-quotas-stage-gender
Pascal Theatre CompanyJulia Pascal article
guardian.co.uk *Rehearsed reading o
Broken English
on 5 October 2009 at

The Drill Hall RADA Studios (formerly The Drill Hall) is a theatrical venue in Chenies Street in Bloomsbury, just to the east of Tottenham Court Road in the West End of London. Owned by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), the building contains rehearsal ...

*Rehearsed reading o
Woman on the Bridge
on 9 November 2009 at The Drill Hall
Information on her
at

London Metropolitan University London Metropolitan University, commonly known as London Met, is a public university, public research university in London, England. The University of North London (formerly the Polytechnic of North London) and London Guildhall University (f ...

Julia Pascal Archives
at

*Julia Pascal,
I slept with my teacher
, ''

'', 9 October 2008.
List of articles
published by her in ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Pascal, Julia Living people Jewish women writers Jewish atheists British atheists British people of Romanian descent Year of birth missing (living people) British women dramatists and playwrights 21st-century British dramatists and playwrights 21st-century British women writers 20th-century British dramatists and playwrights 20th-century British women writers 21st-century British Jews 20th-century British Jews British republicans