Checkpoint Zero

An illicit relationship that has it genesis at one of Israel’s security checkpoints dominates the action in Don Mamouney and Assad Abdi’s play Checkpoint Zero currently playing at Marrickville’s Sidetrack Shed Theatre.

Much to the anger of her colleagues, Israeli checkpoint guard Sivan flirts with young Palestinian student, Hani, as he regularly makes his way through Checkpoint Zero to go to University. There is an irresistible attraction between the two of them, and they find a way to meet furtively within Israel, with tragic results.

With Checkpoint Zero the playwrights promise a fresh, cathartic work addressing Middle East dilemmas. In co-writer and director Don Mamouney’s own words, Checkpoint Zero is, ‘by intent, a plea for a new way of imagining the future of Palestine/Israel. Not two separate ethnic states but a modern, multi-ethnic, multi-religious country able to sustain both Palestinians and Jews’.

Their viewpoints are encased in a storyline that is derivative of the classic Romeo and Juliet tale, with two young lovers battling conflicting backgrounds.

This was an adeptly staged play. The actors performed behind a slated corrugated iron fence, symbolic of the security fence now long installed in Israel. A table towards the front middle of the stage indicated the Checkpoint. The action centered around the guards interactions with people coming and going through Checkpoint Zero, with other scenes taking place further back on the quite large Sidetrack stage.

Through the play, different images of the conflict were projected onto a large back wall screen. An atmospheric Middle Eastern soundtrack complemented the action.

Sadly, despite the strong staging, Mamouney and Abdi deliver a lame and alienating production. For this kind of play to work it just has to come across as even handed. With its deeply pro-Palestinian tone through-out, Checkpoint Zero is found badly wanting. What sticks out above all is the insulting portrayal of the male Israeli security guards who come across as heartless, paranoid thugs.

A hard working cast were let down by the unbalanced script. The pick of the cast were the two leads, with English born and trained actress Cassandra Swaby’s strong portrayal of the feisty, free-thinking Sivan, and Jordanian born Charles Billeh’s portrayal of the charming, quick thinking Hani.