We are raising tax-deductible contributions for theater productions of Seeing Maya in Washington DC and Phoenix, AZ.

This will serve as the platform for an English language film shot in Tel Aviv.

A love story, these days? Set in Israel of all places?

Yes, exactly.

In our hearts, we know there is more. More than the headlines that infuriate us. The reactions that exhaust us. The repetitions of history that numb the soul.

There is the passion to connect that can break through every barrier. Barriers of culture. Barriers of fear. Even the barrier of age itself.

Why Seeing Maya, why now

In-your-face political theater was for more genteel times, when people needed to be shaken. Now we are shaken every day. We’re filled with reaction but emptied of reflection.

With humor and poetry, Seeing Maya draws us away from the obvious, exhausted conflicts of the day into the deep, unknown, and unlimited heart of human connection.

A cross-border collaboration

The playwright, Joseph Bardin, moved to Israel when he was two, so Hebrew was his first language. He later lived in Tel Aviv over the time of the Gulf War.

The play has been developed with theater maker Raghad Makhlouf, a Syrian expat, originally from Damascus, now based in Washington DC.

Together, Makhlouf and Bardin reveal the universality of Maya’s courage and confusion, as a Middle Eastern woman seeking the freedom of her heart.

The Story:

In this comedy-drama, Danny, 26, American, moved to Tel Aviv to escape overbearing parents and the looming threat of law school. During an air raid at the start of the Gulf War, he meets his neighbor, Maya, an ageless 52.

They can’t stay away from each other, despite nearly being discovered by her son, Yaya, who happens to be Danny’s best friend. Oi Vey.

As the emotional stakes rise, their secret affair becomes both too much and not enough. But for everyone else, it’s WAY too much—as we discover when Danny’s parents visit Israel and Maya impulsively invites them to her Passover Seder.

A personal homage

The playwright and his partner of 25 years, Bernadeane, who died of cancer, shared a comparable age difference to Maya and Danny. The play is, in part, an homage to Bernie.

From the playwright:

“My feeling, contrary to what many say, is that divides don’t run deep, they run shallow. That’s why politics seem so superficial. The deeper you go, the more connected you feel. The call then is to break the surface of separation to get to the depths of connection. That’s what I believe theater should be—that deeper place where we feel together. Not by way of a lecture or a sermon, but through story, and character, and plot, and yes, laughter.”

--Joseph Bardin

Joe's work has been developed or produced at the Queens Short Play Festival, Rogue Theater Festival in NYC; Chicago Dramatists in Chicago; Atlas Intersections Festival, Spooky Action Theater in Washington DC; Order Chaos Theater Company, iTheatre Collaborative, Theatre Artists Studios, Space 55, Herberger Lunchtime Theater in Phoenix; Winding Road Theatre, Saddle Brook Theatre in Tucson; the La Jolla Theatre Ensemble, CA; Monroe County Civic Theater, Bloomington, IA; and KMC Onstage, Kaiserslautern, Germany.

Development:

Reading, Atlas Intersections Festival, DC, 2026
Reading, Spooky Action Theater, DC, 2025
Reading, Ratner Museum, Bethesda MD, 2024
Reading, Theatre Artists Studio, Phoenix, Year 2018

The journey of creation:

We are raising tax-deductible contributions for theater productions in Washington DC and Phoenix, AZ.

This will serve as the platform for an English language film shot in Tel Aviv.

In the way Sleepless in Seattle made Seattle famous, and Before Sunrise, presented Vienna to the world, Seeing Maya will feature Tel Aviv to a global audience.

Every gift is a (tax-deductible) blessing:

L' chaim (to life) — $18

Mazel tov (congratulations) — $36

B'sha'ah Tovah (same as mazel tov, more or less) — $100

Yasher Koach (mazel tov + job well done*) —$250

Ad Me’ah V’esrim (may you live to 120) — $500

Shehecheyanu (blessing to celebrate a major milestone) — $1000

*we're a very achievement-oriented people

Friends of Maya

Big thanks for their help to:

· Voices Festival Productions

· The Lab of Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University

· Spooky Action Theater

And especially to Open Road Arts our nonprofit partner.

Seeing Maya theater production

Matchmaker make me a perfect match

Team Members