The Arab-Israeli Cookbook (Paperback)

The Arab-Israeli Cookbook is a drama created from the everyday realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The project began when the Caird Company sent the writer Robin Soans and directors Rima Brihi and Tim Roseman to Israel, Gaza and the West Bank in 2003. There they sampled a variety of dishes in homes, restaurants, shops and cafes and met dozens of people with different cultures, backgrounds and beliefs. Each person had a story to tell and a recipe to cook. Robin Soans has constructed a verbatim play from the words he collected. Arab and Israeli voices come together to bring insight and understanding to the melting pot of Middle Eastern affairs.

Robin Soans (born 20 June 1946) is an actor, and a playwright specialising in verbatim and documentary plays. These plays include Across the Divide (2007); A State Affair (2000) which looked at life on a Bradford estate,[1] produced by Out of Joint theatre company; The Arab Israeli Cookbook (Gate Theatre 2004); Talking to Terrorists (Out of Joint theatre company and Royal Court Theatre);[2] Life After Scandal (Hampstead Theatre); and Crouch, Touch, Pause, Engage (Out of Joint theatre company, National Theatre Wales, Arcola Theatre, and Sherman Cymru).[3] Other plays include Bet Noir (Young Vic 1986); Sinners and Saints (The Croydon Warehouse) and Will and Testament (The Oval House).He wrote Mixed Up North for LAMDA theatre school in 2008,[4] about a youth theatre group created as a means to unite divided racial communities in the Lancashire mill town of Burnley; in 2009 it was performed professionally in a co-production between Out of Joint theatre company and Bolton Octagon Theatre.As an actor, he has appeared at The National Theatre, The Royal Court, The Royal Shakespeare Company and Shakespeare's Globe. He also starred in Bill Douglas's epic film of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, Comrades.