The Freedom Theatre’s latest in-house production, Lost Land, opened on November 21st to an audience of 277 people. Many more were turned away at the door, as the theatre hall was filled to the brim. Since the premiere, Lost Land has continued to attract audiences from the Jenin area, other parts of the West Bank and from Palestine ’48. Special performances are also scheduled for schools in Jenin city and camp.
“Lost Land is a real feat for us as a theatre”, says Nabil Al-Raee, Artistic Director at The Freedom Theatre. “We have managed to stage a play of this magnitude, with two acts, a cast of 13 – including three generations of The Freedom Theatre Acting School students – and a beautiful set, suffused with a sense of Palestine just before the Nakba.”
Lost Land is based on the novel Le Grand Meaulnes by Alain Fournier, one of the most famous French novels of the twentieth century. The Freedom Theatre’s adaptation takes place in pre-1948 Palestine and centres around Momin, an adventurous schoolboy, who comes upon an old Ottoman house where there is a wonderful wedding party. He meets a girl, Navine, to whom he stumblingly declares his love. The party is abruptly ended and Momin returns to his school obsessed with finding his way back – but soon realizes this magical land is not to be found on any map. The British declare the end of the Mandate and Momin joins the struggle for his homeland.
The last performance of Lost Land will be this Wednesday, November 27th, at 16:00. The play is performed in Arabic.
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