What is it about?
This article examines the challenges of helping audiences understand the complexities and dangers of medieval disputation. In particular, this article discusses the stage portrayal of the Disputation of Barcelona in 1263 between Rabbi Moses Nahmanides and the Church, which forced him to debate in the Court of King James of Aragon as the Jewish champion. The play was produced in Jerusalem in 2017 for a mainly theologically educated Jewish audience and a minority of Christian and Muslim audience members. The difficulties in portraying Christian characters and assumptions in a Jewish cultural milieu are discussed, and practical solutions are presented. The director discusses her choice of the play Divine Right by Roy Doliner and why she found it to be a good fit for her audience demographic.
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Why is it important?
This article advances Jewish-Christian understanding from an unusual point of view. It discusses Jewish laws and mores as they relate to Christian belief and iconography and it also teaches some basic stagecraft in its examination of how best to portray a medieval debate to modern audiences.
Perspectives
This article puts an academic spin on what is essentially a really cool process. You'll get to read about how Christians used to see Jews, how Jews currently see Christians, and how it all works on stage. Throw in the fact that this whole operation happened in Jerusalem, where religion and theology are pretty darned important, during a wave of terror (which only serves to complicate things), and you get a pretty interesting read. Of course, I'm biased.
Yael Valier
Theater and Theology Productions
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Dramaturgical and Theological Issues Involved in Producing and Staging a Play in Jerusalem about the Disputation of Barcelona, Perichoresis, August 2020, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.2478/perc-2020-0021.
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