Thursday,
August 31, 2006
F.Murray Abraham: Italian Mother, Syrian Father, Strives for Mid East
Peace with "Nathan the Wise"
The ANNOTICO Report
F. Murray Abraham won the Best Actor Academy Award for his performance as composer Antonio Salieri in the 1984 film Amadeus.
Abraham
ACTOR SPREADS CULTURE OF PEACE THROUGH ART
Voice
of
30 August 2006
At a time of
tension between cultures, regional wars and political differences couched in
religious terms, some are trying to find a middle ground. One of them is an
American actor who believes in spreading the message of peace and tolerance
through theater and film.
F. Murray Abraham
embodies American diversity. The Academy Award-winning actor
"I
The place Abraham
"I think
that the role of film is very important and powerful. It seems to me there
should be room for an artistic use as well as the political and propaganda
use." He says "there should be more searches for the authentic truth,
and I do not think the truth is war, it is a reality but it does not have to be
the truth, and I think artists, true artists search for the truth. I think that
is the core of art."
Two years ago F.
Murray Abraham started to use theatre as a medium for spreading the culture of
peace and religious tolerance. He picked one of the earliest pieces of
literature celebrating tolerance, "Nathan the Wise" a play by German
writer Gotthold Lessing, published in 1779. Set in
"It was a
very big success, it was attended by religious leaders
from both the Christian, the Muslim as well as the Jewish power seats in
F. Murray Abraham
says he would like to take "Nathan the Wise"- ands its message of
understanding- to the
"I think
there should be more attention paid to the voices of peace coming from
He says that
there are many ways to reach people of different backgrounds. He is now using
comedy to spread the culture of peace because, he says, people trust comedy
since there is no hidden agenda behind laughter.
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