There are three things you need to know about Wrestling Jerusalem: (1) On the night I attended, the show was stopped twice due to technical issues at 59E59; (2) once the show was finally resumed for good, the sound cues had to be omitted entirely; and (3) it was still a really good show and one you really must see. I've been assured all the technical problems have been resolved.

I bring this up because what the writer and performer of the show, Aaron Davidman, has accomplished is no easy feat. Wrestling Jerusalem is a fraught piece to begin with -- it tackles perhaps the most perplexing foreign policy issue of our generation, Israel and Palestine. Davidman travels to the heart of it all, in Israel, and converses with a range of characters, from politicians and rabbis to activists and military men. The result is 90 minutes of political arguments, monologues that sometimes defend demagogy, at other times hope. Every side is given room to speak, every voice is lent enough amplification. Davidman must be aware of the risk he takes every time he performs the show (and he has performed it all around the world), because many of the audience members appeared uncomfortable. Davidman’s even approach underscores the catch 22 of the conflict.

Even though Wrestling Jerusalem is all about politics, more driven by ideas than by character, it is a wondrous theatrical work. The scenic design by Nephelie Andonyas is oil on a large canvas, which hangs behind Davidman and is lit in ways by lighting designer Allen Willner that transform a two-dimensional stage piece into cavernous mountains and sprawling deserts. It even manages, in an important scene, to evoke to Dead Sea. Director Michael John Garces has brought all the elements together so well that the stagecraft does not simply complement Davidman’s story, it anchors it.

Special mention must be given to technical director Wolfgang Wachalovsky and stage manager Kate Croasdale, who were integral to making sure the show in fact did go on. Davidman’s accomplishment was heroic, for two interruptions during a live performance certainly affect the audience’s experience, but it seemed fitting to the project itself and the conflict it represented, which can sometimes feel like a never ending battle of one step forward and two steps back.