Summer at The Freedom Theatre!

08/18/2018 الصفصاف

SUMMER AT TFT

Ramadan was a busy month at The Freedom Theatre, with a string of cultural events including hip hop, stand-up comedy, music performances and film screenings. Last year, The Freedom Theatre offered a series of cultural events throughout Ramadan. Following this great success, we again organised several events to celebrate this special month which bought together families and children to the theatre during the long Ramadan nights!

Our highly popular summer camp lasted for two weeks in July; 45 children from Jenin refugee camp and surrounding areas joined the daily activities at the theatre and occasional trips in the wider Jenin area. We held drama workshops, led by Raneen Odeh, Amir Abu Al Rob and Saber Shreim, all graduates of The Freedom Theatre school for professional actors. They consisted of exercises focusing on speech, singing and body language. By doing so, the children were educated to express themselves in creative ways with the use of play. Alongside drama, we held sessions on traditional and modern dance as well as a workshop connected to Palestinian cultural heritage – explorative teachings about the oud, an Arabic instrument with a rich history. The camp ended on July 14 with a closing ceremony, providing an opportunity for the children to show their families and friends what they had learned during the last two weeks.

PERFORMANCES IN JENIN AND ABROAD

The West Bank tour of Jinan , a play based on the story of Pippi Longstocking (a co-production with Folkteatern in Gothenburg and directed by Lars-Eric Brossner) toured around the West Bank to reach more communities and audiences in Palestine.

The premiere of the new play Untitled. 70th Nakba?! opened to a full house on Nakba Day, 15 May 2018. A significant year, marking 70 years of the catastrophe, the play presents a few small, human stories in a realistic and sometimes humorous way. The three personal monologues in the play enabled the audience to connect with the humanity of the Palestinian narrative – all the while informing the audience about the necessary facts about Palestine. Soon after the show in Jenin, Nabil, Artistic Director at The Freedom Theatre travelled to NYC to take part in a string of Nakba events arranged by our US Friends .

Along with events and local performances, popular plays Return to Palestine and And Here I Am were performed to audiences in Jordan, Turkey, Portugal, Norway, Zimbabwe, Egypt and Abu Dhabi.

In the midst of all these activities, we have also been busy running workshops on Drama and Photography as pa

rt of the the FBA project, in collaboration with Interpeace Palestine, which focuses on raising awareness of UNSCR 1325 (women’s empowerment). This was launched in June 2018 in six areas across the West Bank – Jenin, Tulkarem, Yabad, Tubas, Nablus and Hebron. More info coming soon!

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Freedom Theatre Acting School will launch in September of this year and reprise it’s role in professional training and education for acting students – applications will be open to all from the West Bank.

Our popular show, Return to Palestinewill embark on a European tour later in the year with venues secured in Sweden, France and Ireland. We are also exploring opportunities in Luxembourg and the UK. More details to follow!

A co-production between TFT and Eyes Up Here Productions LLC will present a skate play with the aim of socially engaging youth in public skate parks. We showcase original skate theatre production and playful, innovative platforms for community based creative exploration.

Last but by no means least, the participants for the second year teachers training programme will graduate at the end of this month and conclude a two year project that has significantly enhanced the pedagogical training of early childhood educators in and around Jenin – we wish them all the best and success in their future endeavours.

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