Reshaping the context and personalizing the message penetrate the taboo: A play on a spy who betrayed his state

Mordechai Vanunu was accused and convicted by the state of Israel for betraying Israel's atomic secrets. In the play Mister V, written after his story, spectators undergo a change process, from alienation to a state of identification with the actor who represents Vanunu. This shift in the attitude of the audience is due to the interplay of a gradual exposure of the narrative and various features of fidelity inserted by the actor on the stage. A pre-post measurement of the perceptions of the spectators indicated a significant shift in their attitudes, toward acceptance of the ideological representation of Vanunu, as seen on the stage, as “reality” itself. This is a case study that exemplifies the power of personalization on attitudes change, even in the context of contrasting loyalties such as security and democracy.