Yuri Lane, human beatbox, traveled to the Middle East twice in the late 90s, but it didn’t occur to him to use the experiences as material until last year. After performing an excerpt from his 2002 show, Soundtrack City, at a Jewish theater conference, the artistic director of D.C.’s Theater J urged him to develop the final scene, where a character gets a phone call from a cousin in Israel telling him there’s been a suicide attack, into a show of its own. From Tel Aviv to Ramallah: A Beatbox Journey–written and directed by Lane’s wife, Rachel Havrelock, a professor of Jewish studies at UIC–debuted at Theater J in November 2003 and earned a Helen Hayes Award (the D.C. equivalent of a Jeff) nomination for outstanding new play. Lane’s been on the road with it ever since.
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Onstage Lane’s energy is relentless. He plays the parts of Amir, Khalid, their friends, girlfriends, and families, people talking on cell phones, and customers haggling with vendors, while also evoking video games, graffiti writing, dance clubs, and the hustle and bustle of the marketplace. He sings, beatboxes, and break-dances simultaneously, touching on everything from traditional Hebrew songs to techno and hip-hop. But the piece is more than just a showcase for his skills–it’s also an effort to tell both sides of the story. “All throughout the country, I’ve gotten good responses from both communities, that the show was balanced,” Lane says. “Of course you can’t please everybody. The Palestinians want more signs of repression, the Israelis want more signs of how hard it is to live under the threat of suicide bombers. I try not to get into the politics, because I’m not a politician. I’m an actor, or a beatboxer, that has this interpretation of what I experienced.”
