SOURCE: "Israel's Theatre of Confrontation," in World Literature Today, Vol. 60, No. 2, Spring, 1986, pp. 239-244.

In the following essay, Rubin describes the sociopolitical role of contemporary Israeli theater.

Israel, as an open, democratic society existing in a state of siege, is a country in which all the measures of artistic and individual expression are daily put to the test of whether they do—or should—serve the nation's interests. In those circumstances Israeli theatre, especially in the past few years, has moved into the vanguard of the arts in taking a didactic tack that has often brought it into outright confrontation with the public. That approach is hardly an Israeli invention, but it does represent a departure from the mainstream of Western theatre, recently dominated by a focus on self-discovery and the relationship of individuals rather than ethical or cultural values. In this article the Israeli stage is examined...