• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • BOSTON BETTER BEER BUREAU
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • ABOUT
    • MASTHEAD
    • ADVERTISE
    • Close
  • BECOME A MEMBER

Dig Bos

The Dig - Greater Boston's Alternative News Source

THEATER REVIEW: THE RETURN AT ISRAELI STAGE

Written by CHRISTOPHER EHLERS Posted April 30, 2019 Filed Under: A+E, Performing Arts

Philana Mia and Nael Nacer. Photo by Anna Olivella.
Philana Mia and Nael Nacer. Photo by Anna Olivella.

 

★★★★☆

 

There has not been a more taut, better-acted production this spring than Israeli Stage’s swan song, The Return. Written by Hanna Eady and Edward Mask, and directed with staggering intensity by Guy Ben-Aharon, the play stars Nael Nacer and Philana Mia as two former lovers who have been pulverized by both each other and the hatred that prevails between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

 

He is a Palestinian Arab and she is an Israeli woman, and 13 years after the last time they saw each other, she flies through the door of the body shop he works at like a missile, completely upending and destroying what little life (and peace of mind) he’s been able to carve out for himself. She asks for forgiveness—though for what isn’t immediately clear—and we begin to get the sense that something horrible has happened between these two. Part of the thrill of The Return is that we never quite know where the story will zig or zag next, and as such it’s best that I don’t reveal much more here. He swears that he was guilty and that she has nothing to apologize for, but we know that can’t be the whole story, not least of all because we can see the intense storm brewing behind Nacer’s eyes.

 

And that’s part of the marvel of Nacer’s performance: the quiet intensity with which he communicates the most minute shifts in mood or feeling, the way the pain creeps up on him—and in effect us—and how he strips himself emotionally bare, revealing a humanity that is central to what The Return is trying to say about identity, love, and belonging.

 

Similarly, Mia is riveting as a woman who clearly has something she needs to get off her chest, consequences be damned. There’s an electricity between her and Nacer—but also an uncanny weariness—that makes their pairing so alluring. And that may be Ben-Aharon’s greatest marvel here: threading this 75 minute play with a relationship so fractured, painful, and real that we can’t help but be swept up in the injustice of it all.

 

This is must-see theater.

 

THE RETURN.THROUGH 5.19 AT ISRAELI STAGE AT THE CALDERWOOD PAVILION, 527 TREMONT ST., BOSTON. ISRAELISTAGE.COM

Christopher Ehlers
CHRISTOPHER EHLERS
+ posts

Theater critic for TheaterMania & WBUR’s TheArtery | Theater Editor for DigBoston | film and music critic for EDGE Media | Boston Theater Critics Association.

    This author does not have any more posts.

Filed Under: A+E, Performing Arts Tagged With: Edward Mast, Guy Ben-Aharon, Hanna Eady, Israeli Stage, Nael Nacer, Philana Mia

WHAT’S NEW

Mass Higher Ed Advocates Urge More Investment In Students 

Mass Higher Ed Advocates Urge More Investment In Students 

Guest Opinion: Promoting Metal Detectors In BPS Perpetuates Dangerous Narrative

Guest Opinion: Promoting Metal Detectors In BPS Perpetuates Dangerous Narrative

State Wire: Mass Leads Nation In 'Green' Building Development

State Wire: Mass Leads Nation In ‘Green’ Building Development

State Wire: Mass Advocates Of Higher Ed Set Goals For Fair Share Revenue

State Wire: Mass Advocates Of Higher Ed Set Goals For Fair Share Revenue

Does Massachusetts Underestimate Its Greenhouse Gas Emissions?

Does Massachusetts Underestimate Its Greenhouse Gas Emissions?

State Wire: The Legacy Of MLK’s Dream Of Economic Justice In Mass

State Wire: The Legacy Of MLK’s Dream Of Economic Justice In Mass

Primary Sidebar

LOCAL EVENTS

AAN Wire


Most Popular

  • 20 Great Tracks To Come Out Of Greater Boston In 2022
  • Think Massachusetts Cannabis Prices Are Low Now? Just Wait Six Months!
  • Why Are Cannabis Prices Really Crashing?
  • A New Beginning For Formerly Incarcerated Women
  • Jerrod Carmichael Has First Show After Coming Out—At the Wilbur In Boston

Footer

Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Advertise

Customer Service

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an email blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: sales@digboston.com To reach editorial (and for inquiries about internship opportunities): editorial@digboston.com