By Michele Markarian

 

The Last Act. Written by Joshua Sobol. Directed by Guy Ben-Aharon. Presented by Israeli Stage Company, Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, through June 1.

 

The Last Act, a world premiere by reknowned Israeli playwright Joshua Sobol, couldn’t get produced in Israel’s government-sponsored theaters for fear of losing funding (reader, I must confess, as someone who is a little disenchanted with US politics right now, I felt a certain amount of schadenfreude upon learning this). Israel’s loss is our gain; this excellent, tautly constructed play is a statement, not just about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but what happens when we let currents of the zeitgeist influence our better instincts. One can certainly relate the events of The Last Act to what is happening with the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as anti-Muslim, anti-Mexican, anti-Semitism, anti-other sentiments in America today. The added element of Big Brother makes The Last Act a very, very timely and universal piece.

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