Noa Baum, Storyteller
Using the Art and Practice of Storytelling
to Connect, Communicate, and Collaborate
"Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding."
Albert Einstein
A Land Twice Promised: Praise
Daniel Schifrin, The Jewish Week, New York
The stunning result of Baum's work is not a competition of narratives, but a consolidation of them. Or to use a musical metaphor, her alternating of Jewish and Arab stories created a point/counterpoint that feels more like a richly dissonant piece of music than a political debate.
David Shipler, Author of Pulitzer Prize winner, Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land
Bobbie Gottschalk, Executive Vice President, Seeds of Peace
Noa Baum mesmerized a theater full of some of the harshest critics I know, teenagers from conflict areas of the world. And, it was mid-morning, the time parents and educators know is more likely to produce somnolence than attentiveness. As she paused to change back and forth between her Jewish Israeli mother and herself, her Palestinian friend and her friend's mother, the air was filled with anticipation. The accents alone were remarkable. She put her heart and soul into every utterance. The piece is rich with meaning, descriptions and humor. And, all of it is true. That is why it "rings true." The second it was over, more than two hundred teenagers jumped to their feet to applaud Noa's work. You don't see that happening every day.
M.J. Rosenberg, Israeli Policy Forum
I recently saw a one-woman show about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which artfully illustrated that the issues dividing the two peoples today are rooted in their respective views of yesterday. Israeli storyteller and actor Noa Baum portrays characters from both sides of the national divide who describe the same events in utterly different ways. The viewer shifts back and forth from sympathy for the Israelis, and then for the Palestinians, and ultimately for both. The show is decidedly political without being biased... I saw the show in an audience that included Israelis and Palestinians. Representatives of both groups joined a discussion with Ms. Baum after the program and each side felt she had done their side justice, although each would have preferred a tad more of a tilt their way.
Len Traubman, Co-founder, Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group
One of the best presentations of personal narratives of both peoples from one woman’s lips... and heart, mind, and soul.
Julie Oyegun, Director, World Bank Group Diversity Programs
Noa uses her personal experience, her exceptional talent and her nationality to convey the intense politics of diversity, while keeping us connected to our hearts and humanity: she confirms through her work on the complexities of culture and identity, that the political is very personal.
Rabbi Brian Walt, Rabbis for Human Rights – North America
You have a beautiful way of conveying difficult realities – helping people to hear and empathize with the "other". The way you gave voice to the different characters in your story was just brilliant.
Elizabeth Ellis, Storyteller
Noa Baum is a woman of striking and unusual talent who weaves a compelling and thought provoking story that challenges each listener to take the first step toward peace.
Rachel Biale, Director of Community Education, Osher Marin Jewish Community Center, San Rafael, CA
The performance generated an intense discussion in which it was evident that many people found themselves questioning their own assumptions and stereotypes. This work is one of the few examples I can think of where I have seen people genuinely willing to consider the situation from the perspective of the other and re-examine their assumptions about the history of the Middle East conflict.
Amy Olson, Director, University of Minnesota, Hillel, MN
An exquisitely performed piece ...it puts a human face on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and helps audience members get beyond newspaper headlines and the blame game.
Steve Denning, author of The Leaders' Guide to Storytelling
I left with the kind of feeling I've had on the rare occasions that I've seen a good production of great plays by Aristophanes. It's not so much that Noa's stories are funny, though there are many deft touches of humor in them, but rather that she's somehow managed to capture the multi-faceted aspects of a complex reality in a way that leaves one with a sense of awe.
Dr. Judy Klein, Brit Tzedek V' Shalom, Indiana
Your performance was a turning point in our community for engagement between the Jewish and Muslim communities. Since then, various groupings of us have collaborated in different settings: panel discussions, a lecture series at the university, and an annual concert called COEXIST. Thank you for being a catalyst.
A Compelling Performance
of Palestinian & Israeli
Women's Stories.
Buy Noa's Award Winning CD
“Far Away and Close to Home”
An excellent collection… the whole family will enjoy hearing all these stories several times over.
- The Sacramento Bee