Traverse Theatre in Kosovo

Traverse Theatre Company presents the world premiere of Petrol Jesus Nightmare #5 (In the Time of the Messiah) by Henry Adam.  It was the first Traverse Theatre Company production of this year’s festival. The show opened on Wed 2 August and ran until Sun 27 August. The Traverse has now taken the production to Kosovo.

Petrol in Jesus #5 (in the time of the Messiah) is where everything is permitted. The zealots are gathering, the city burns. The final war is coming but no one told the men on the ground.

The play is about being holed up in a ransacked building in the heart of occupied territory, two Israeli soldiers are caught under fire: Buddy and Slomo hold their ground, soldiers soldiering, keeping back the Caliphate the only way they know how.

But the real danger emerges from behind their back when two wholly unexpected visitors take refuge: a Texan in a Stetson and the widow of a rabbi - fresh from a disastrous morning in Jerusalem, and chaperoned by the young captain Yossariat.

'Yossariat is having a bad day. A very, very bad day. Forced together, at the frontier between earth and heaven, the visitors’ true motives become clear...' 'An apocalyptic vision of a new world order fuelled by faith, politics and dollars.' The show is directed by Philip Howard and the cast features James Cunningham, Lewis Howden, Aleksandar Mikic, Joseph Thomson and Susan Vidler.

Making Drama out of a Crisis

Below is a picture of the 'Rabbi's Wife' as she sleeps in the 'bombed out mouse hole' (the herald review) she now calls home. Like this for many living in Kosovo, this drama has been made out of a crisis. 

Henry Adam's prescient play says it all: such a comfort blanket makes plain the here and the now, the play's story. This lies partly in its geographical opacity and may be what gives it longevity. In this respect, Adam and Director Philip Howard have created a slow-burning morality tale akin to a mere claustrophobic, 'The Good, The Bad & The Ugly', but with all the religion and excuses for greed.

Henry Adam: Writer

Henry Adam’s last Traverse Theatre production 'The People Next Door' won Fringe First and Herald Angel awards at the 2003 Festival. It has since toured Scotland, England, Germany, the Balkans and New York.

Henry Adam’s other plays include: Among Unbroken Hearts (Traverse/Bush; Meyer Whitworth Award Winner 2002), When the Dons were Kings (The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen); An Clo Mor (Theatre Highland); Millenium - Angels of Paris (His Majesty’s, Aberdeen); The Widow (Sharp Shorts, Traverse Theatre); The Abattoir (Mobil Scottish Playwriting Competition Winner).

Henry Adam kicked off the Traverse's fringe season this year with a bang!

For more information please go to Traverse Theatre website.