'Artists are often first to challenge violent regimes, and first to be punished by them'

Jailed in Russia over an anti-ISIS play, Svetlana Petriychuk and Jewish director Zhenya Berkovich find a new stage in Israel, where Roy Horovitz has revived 'My Sleeping Handsome' as an act of solidarityA play exposing how ISIS recruiters seduce and manipulate vulnerable women won Russia’s most prestigious theater award. Less than a year later, its playwright, Svetlana Petriychuk, and its Jewish director, Zhenya Berkovich, were arrested for “justifying and encouraging terrorism.” Apparently, exposing terrorism and endorsing it are now the same thing, provided the state dislikes the person holding the pen. GalleryA scene from the Israeli production of 'My Sleeping Handsome,' directed by Roy Horovitz and based on a play by imprisoned Russian playwright Svetlana Petriychuk. The production follows Russian women targeted online by ISIS recruiters Petriychuk and Berkovich were sentenced to six years in a penal colony. Six years... for a play! Three years have passed. While Berkovich’s children (one with special needs) grow up with no mother, the two women remain behind bars, and the play that put them there has largely disappeared from stages outside Russia. The artists' husbands, friends and colleagues continue trying to keep their story in the public eye, but outrage has a short attention span.Prof. Roy Horovitz chose not to let the play disappear. He brought it to the Israeli stage, creating an opportunity for the international theater community to turn attention into action.I went to see the play “My Sleeping Handsome”, and after the show I sat down with Horovitz to ask why he chose it, why now, and what he believes is at stake if the theater world allows this moment to pass.Where and how did you come across this play?