We are living through a moment of humanitarian catastrophe with reverberations across the globe. All eyes are on Gaza. No matter whether one has chosen "sides" – Israel or Palestine, Hamas or Netanyahu – there is no question that there are no winners in this game that is anything but zero-sum. Everyone is losing – the Israelis and the hostages, the Gazans under the thumb of Hamas and starving to death, the Palestinian community under siege in the West Bank, and the world community, at war with itself over the righteousness of both sides of the story.

Antisemitism and Islamophobia both are running rampant, here in the US and around the world. The future of the entire Middle East hangs in the balance. We are beginning to understand the ramifications of this new moment in American history, and are unsure as to whether we may ever see a democratically elected President again. Put simply, we are living in a new world order, where illiberal authoritarianism is reigning and pushing aside the liberalism of the mid-to-late 20th century that we thought was entrenched forever.

It is during this boiling point moment that Voices Festival Productions (VFP) launches its most crucially-timed Middle East Festival yet, presented under the banner, "How We Got Here | Where We Go Next." The works VFP will be producing have the potential to move hearts, spirits and minds. Art models hope. It enables us to share stories with one another in a unified space. The theater has always been that humane gathering place where the daily work of staging performance commands a commitment to collaboration, trust and civility, enabling a small microcosmic society to spring forth on a stage. It validates our most human instincts to listen to one another and, in so doing, care for one another. In short, being involved in theater, both as an artist and an audience, is a healthful, nourishing response to trauma, bringing together those with divergent views to a space where we can wrestle together with our differences and come out whole and respected.

Ari Roth is a producer, playwright, dramaturg, educator, songwriter, and child of Holocaust refugees. He served as Artistic Director of Theater J from 1997 to 2014, established Mosaic Theater Company of DC in December of 2014 as its Founding Artistic Director, and founded Voices Festival Productions, LLC in June, 2021, working in partnership with A. Lorraine Robinson.