The Invaders’ Fear of Memories

“The Invaders’ Fear of Memories” is a theatre piece based on the life and diaries of Yosef Nachmani – a Russian Jew who migrated from Tsarist Russia to Ottoman Palestine in 1907. Nachmani became Director of the Jewish National Fund in the Galilee and subsequently played a central role in the ethnic cleansing of Palestine’s indigenous people. The play offers a perspective into the origins of settler-colonialism and apartheid in modern-day Israel exploring themes of loyalty violence ideology and grief.
The Invaders’ Fear of Memories is performed by Benjamin Rivers the great grandson of Nachmani. Over the course of the play Rivers performs 12 characters and sings in Arabic Hebrew Ukrainian and Yiddish.
The production is directed by Linda Wise an original member of the iconic Roy Hart Theatre Company.
Since August 2023 The Invaders’ Fear of Memories has been performed to audiences across four continents.
 
 Audience reviews:
“The Invaders’ Fear of Memories” is a jaw-dropping tour de force through history that has never been more relevant. Ben Rivers deftly slips between characters to create a collage of voice and song that is both powerful and rich with devastating truth and subtly observed nuance.
Emily Conolan Author and refugee advocate Australia.
 
“The Invaders’ Fear of Memories” a one-man play by Ben Rivers is both an urgently needed piece of history and an extraordinary work of art. Rivers portraying twelve characters brings to life his own great-grandfather’s story first as an oppressed Jew in Tsarist Russia and then his inexorable transformation into an active participant in the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homeland. With gorgeous stirring songs in Ukrainian Yiddish Hebrew and Arabic woven throughout “The Invaders’ Fear of Memories” confronts us with the tragic cycles of history in which we are still caught. It could not be more relevant in today’s violent world.
Jo Salas Author and co-founder of Playback Theatre New York.
  
List of team and cast
Written and performed by Benjamin Rivers
Directed by Linda Wise

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