Richard Wagner’s music is banned in Israel on the grounds that the German composer was promoted during the Nazi era as Hitler’s favorite composer. In You Will Not Play Wagner by South African playwright Victor Gordon, a young Israeli conductor chooses to perform Wagner in the final concert of a prestigious musical competition. A patron of the competition, a Jewish Holocaust survivor who lives in America, resolutely stands against the idea and refuses to be convinced otherwise, leading to an international conflict of interest behind the scenes.

Join MJH for a pre-recorded reading of an excerpt from the play, followed by a scholarly talk with playwright Victor Gordon, director Roy Horovitz, and Tel Aviv University professor Moshe Zuckermann on Wagner’s influence after the Holocaust and the broader implications of censorship in Israel.