Current sectionArt & CultureShare to FacebookShare to XArticle printing is available to subscribers onlyPrint in a simple, ad-free formatSubscribeComments: Zen reading is available to subscribers onlyAd-free and in a comfortable reading formatSubscribeMilo Rau, founder and artistic director of "The International Institute of Political Murder." Credit: Orit PniniLast week, Swiss theater director Milo Rau brought Wagner's music to an Israeli audience. By speaking with former Israeli hostages and Gazans, he broke the greatest taboo of all: embracing complexity11:29 AM • August 28 2026 IDTIf you're already risking the wrath of the global world of culture by visiting a country, why not stir up a storm in the country too? That's exactly what Swiss theater director Milo Rau did when he landed in Israel in mid-August to stage excerpts from the operas of nineteenth-century German composer Richard Wagner, as part of research for a production of Wagner's "The Flying Dutchman" in Berlin.In the NewsBy Playing Wagner in Israel, This Swiss Director Broke Two Boycotts at OnceA Hot Mess: I Spent the Summer in Switzerland. Who Knew It Could Turn Into Hell?Sliman Mansour, a Defining Figure of Palestinian Art, Dies at 79Netanyahu Has Entered His Fat Elvis EraA Few Good Women: Photos of Israelis Protesting the War While Most Stay SilentRemembering and rebuilding two years laterICYMIAn Israeli Startup Is Reinventing Salmon Farming. It May Upend a Global IndustryHasan Piker Talks Hamas, anti-Zionism and Why Americans Are Fed Up With Israel'Israel Is Sending Militias to Commit War Crimes – and I Have to Protect Them'Being Israeli Abroad Has Become Embarrassing. You Don't Talk About ItDavid Remnick on Netanyahu, Mamdani and Israel's 'Failure to Face' GazaIsraeli Court Acquits Man of Assaulting Nun in Jerusalem's Old City