23 Nov Moving Forward
It’s been a year since we went into production with Learning at Artsdepot studio theatre. A year feels like the minimum time I needed for some distance from it all. Not that there weren’t many, many joys and a deep sense of gratitude from me to all who worked so hard towards the culmination of a 5-year project. The “learning” curve (pun intended!) was very steep and at times, painful and I can’t pretend that I wasn’t completely burnt out by the time we finished the second run at Upstairs at the Gatehouse Theatre. I do remember feeling similar after the workshops and rehearsed reading of Deborah’s Children at Park90 (The Park Theatre) back in 2016. Would I ever be able to move on and dream up a fresh, new idea for a script when my head was so full of the previous one? Would I ever be able to fund my way out of the impresario hole I’d dug for myself?
In answer to the first question, the idea for my next script was already hatching during the time we were working on Learning. There are a couple of lines in Learning (spoken by the character, Debs) that go something like this:
Jewish law states that the male must freely grant the female the divorce…. the infamous ‘Get’. If he refuses, the Rabbinical Court won’t override him. So, the term, ‘Agunah’, a ‘chained woman’, was coined, and her plight is as real and reprehensible today as it was in Bible times when you might have forgiven them for not knowing any better.
And there we are. The idea that became the first draft of Chains – The Agunah’s Tale was born.
I remember back to the days I when I had just graduated from university and was looking for a job in my intended profession. I filled in the time with various temp jobs, one of the being with what was then called United Synagogue Youth and Community Services. My boss was a religious man but nevertheless with certain maverick ideas. He was vocal on the subject, and I distinctly remember him saying, “ The Beth Din spent longer working out how to turn on the lights on Shabbat than how to help these poor Agunot”.
And so I started the research into the sad and sometimes horrifying stories of these women. And with that growing horror, I learned that many were fleeing domestic violence including coercive control, extortion, physical and mental abuse, all of which are criminal offences and carry prison sentences. I visited Jewish Women’s Aid to learn more.
https://www.jwa.org.uk/our-services/how-can-jwa-help/get-refusal-and-forced-marriage/
And learn I did…that in spite of the above criminal acts perpetrated by some or indeed many of these men refusing to grant the Jewish divorce, (The ‘Get’) the authorities just shrug and say, well it’s Jewish law (Halacha). They can’t grant the ‘Get’ over the head of the ‘Get’ refuser. The lack of activism on behalf of these Agunot is woeful. The excellent work of support organisations designed to help these women do just that of course…support them, but through a dead end process which culminates in the authorities keeping their ‘Get’ locked away, reassuring the recalcitrant male that it’s safely stowed until they decide otherwise. What happened to cooperating with the law of the land, eh? So, here’s a taster:
Chains – Act 2 Scene, 1:
Rabbi:…….I really can’t help you…I can’t give you what you want.
Dina: I’ll go to the Reform…they’ll sort this out…
Rabbi: They can’t override Orthodox marriage law. You can go where you like…I mean to other… lesser organisations. After all we are a membership organisation. You are free to leave…
Dina: No, Rav Yossi, the oh, so wise one… I was born into it…the Orthodox Synagogue, indoctrinated into its teachings…married under its chupah. And now, I am its prisoner.
In answer to the second question above…. No, I can’t fund my way forward with this play. My sole production days are over, but I am hoping for a collaboration with Upstairs at the Gatehouse Theatre for the first rehearsed reading in 2026. Meanwhile I am updating the website and social media platforms. Watch this space.
Francesca Rose – November 2025
No Comments