– in development –
coming in 2020!
breaking protocols
Exploding "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," the notorious, fabricated document used to fuel and justify antisemitism, theatre dybbuk's performance will explore contemporary issues connected to racism, propaganda, and false narratives.
As with all of theatre dybbuk's works, breaking protocols will be rich in poetic text, choreographed movement, and original music.
The piece will premiere on Friday, August 14, 2020 and run through August 30 at The Philosophical Research Society.
In addition to the full production coming in August, public engagements connected to the production will be taking place during the period leading up to opening with our commissioning partners, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE) and The Hive at Leichtag Commons.
breaking protocols is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project, co-commissioned by Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions and The Hive at Leichtag Commons.
breaking protocols research, background, and history
"The Protocols" In the News
November 21, 2019 – "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" was referenced by Dr. Fiona Hill – the National Security Council’s former senior director for Europe and Russia – in her testimony before the House Intelligence Committee during the impeachment inquiry hearings. Watch the segment posted by Face The Nation below. You can also read more analysis about Dr. Hill's testimony in publications such as the Forward and the Huffington Post.
So...What Is/Are "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion"?
Supposedly the record of secret meetings of Jewish leaders, "The Protocols" describes an alleged conspiracy to dominate the world. It has become a touchpoint and source of inspiration for antisemitic movements world-wide. The document – which has been proven fraudulent – does not indicate when or where the meetings took place, who attended, or its authorship.
An abbreviated version of "The Protocols" was first published in 1903 in the St. Petersburg newspaper Znamya (The Banner). The editor of Znamya, Pavel Krushevan, was an outspoken antisemite.
"The Protocols" were first published in full as an appendix to the book The Great in the Small: The Coming of the Anti-Christ and the Rule of Satan on Earth by Russian mystic Sergei Nilus.
Modern scholarship points the authorship of "The Protocols" to Matvei (a.k.a. Mathieu) Golovinski as a part of a monarchist scheme to persuade Tsar Nicholas II that the capitalist modernization of Russia was really a Jewish plot to control the world. This argument is supported by modern Russian historian Mikhail Lepekhine who, in the late 1990s, studied previously closed French archives stored in Moscow containing information that supports Golovinski’s authorship.
Golovinski was likely working in Paris under the direction of Pyotr Rachkovsky – the chief of the Russian imperial secret service (the Okhrana) who was based in Paris from 1885-1902.
The Authorship Question
Not all scholars agree on Golovinski's authorship.
Steven J. Zipperstein in his book, Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History, argues that Pavel Krushevan ("The Protocols" first publisher) might well have been an author, either on his own or with others, of the fraudulent work. The antisemitic rhetoric that Krushevan published in his newspaper, Znamya, likely helped to fuel the Kishinev pogrom. Krushevan was also associated with the Black Hundreds, an ultra-nationalist movement in Russia in the early 20th century. The Black Hundreds opposed any retreat from the autocratic rule of the reigning monarch and was known to have used violence against those who were believed to be a threat to the Tsar.
Plagiarism within "The Protocols"
Not only is "The Protocols" a fraudulent document, it is also partially plagiarized. Sections of "The Protocols" were plagiarized from an earlier text by French attorney and political writer Maurice Joly. In 1864, Joly published the political satire Dialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu in protest against the regime of Napoleon III.
This plagiarism was brought to light by Irish journalist Phillip Graves in a series of articles in The Times of London in 1921. These articles were the first to expose "The Protocols" as an antisemitic forgery.
Ironically, Joly, in turn, likely plagiarized Dialogue in Hell in part from an earlier series of popular novels by Eugène Sue – Les Mystères du Peuple.
our process
So...how do we create a new work?
Each new piece of theatre that we create begins with internal research and then takes between 6 months and 2 years from the first group meeting to opening night.
In the first phase of the process, we have around a dozen script development meetings with the writer/director, dramaturg, composer, actors, designers, and a scholar.
We also have regular physical development sessions – meeting 2-3 times a month – with the actors, writer/director, choreographer, and other stylized performance leaders, such as a mask and puppet designer.
As the script development concludes, a brief workshop phase begins where we experiment with choreography, music, and other show-specific performance elements such as shadow work, mask work, and puppetry. We also refine the script.
In the final 4 weeks leading up to opening night, we take what we learned during the workshop period and "set" the script, music, and various staging elements. While the script and staging may continue to change up until opening night, this final stage is a process of refining all that we have created up until then.