By Eric George Tauber
SAN DIEGO — In September of 1978, three nations’ leaders, US President Jimmy Carter, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin met for thirteen days on an isolated hilltop to iron out the Camp David Accords. Who got the shorter end of the stick depends on whose analysis one reads. But the drama of this moment is what turns history into theater.
That was the vision of Gerald Rafshoon, the former Communications Director for Carter, when he contacted the Arena Stage of Washington D.C. They commissioned playwright Lawrence Wright and now Camp David has come to San Diego’s Old Globe.
Jeff Suggs’ opening projection brings us back to the place and time. Images dance of calls to prayer, newspaper headlines, marching soldiers, tanks, explosions and piles of bodies. Then a playfully bickering Jimmy and Roslyn Carter roll in on a golf cart.
Jimmy, clad in a western shirt and blue jeans, is all hope and smiles. The smartly suited Begin and Sadat are far more wary. Sadat has come with a full proposal, Begin with justifiable skepticism.
To his credit, Anwar Sadat was the first and only Arab leader willing to offer Israel an olive branch. He was determined to resolve the whole Middle East crisis, including the thorny issues of Jerusalem, Gaza, the West Bank and Palestinian refugees.
Begin seems intractable, but he has his reasons…
“The Jewish people know very well the dangers of extinction.
… We’ve learned that we can’t trust others to save us.”
When they talk politics and territory, they argue vehemently. It’s when they talk about family that the two grandfathers find common ground. They were also both ex jailbirds. Begin had done time in a Soviet gulag and Sadat was jailed for resisting British rule. Only in prison, they agreed, is a man unable to escape himself.
Egyptian actor Khaled Nabawy gives Anwar Sadat both a proud bearing and a warm, disarming smile. With one foot in two worlds, he must play the charming diplomat to the West and the lion tamer to his own people. They will not abide any agreement that brings even a hint of shame.
Ned Eisenberg portrays Menachem Begin as a complicated, deeply conflicted man desperately seeking light in a labyrinth of heavy shadows. In his furrowed brow, we see the weight of his losses to the Holocaust, his time in the gulag and his less than noble participation in the Irgun’s bombing of the King David Hotel. He cannot change the past, but he is determined to provide a more secure future for his grandchildren.
Richard Thomas’ Jimmy Carter is a man buoyed by hope even as he is repeatedly slapped down. He has to do some fast-talking and arm twisting to get these two foes to the table. A deeply religious man, he pleads with G-d for help in brokering peace and openly questions whether or not the Higher Power is listening.
He has a wonderful chemistry with Hallie Foote as Rosalynn. They have that vibe of an old married couple playfully bickering on a solid court of loving devotion. Rosalynn is Jimmy’s conscience, propping him up and keeping him in check.
Personally, I’m no fan of Carter’s, especially after his mischaracterization of Israel –which gives full voting rights to her Arab citizens- as an “Apartheid” state. But this play has given me a deeper appreciation for the complexities of the man and this piece of history.
After the Camp David Accords were signed, Jimmy Carter faced a humiliating, landslide defeat to Ronald Reagan. Anwar Sadat was assassinated by his own people during a patriotic parade. But there hasn’t been another Israeli Egyptian war, and there’s a lot to be said for that.
If you like to read between the lines on a complex page of history, come to the Old Globe and watch Camp David bring that history to life.
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Tauber is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. He may be contacted via eric.tauber@sdjewishworld.com. Comments intended for publication in the space below MUST be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the United States.)