On November 17th, at 16:30 The Freedom Theatre will host Al Harah’s play Bye Bye Gillo. The play centers around Al-Gillalee, a young Moroccan immigrant who lives illegally in Brussels.
This day, Gillo is deported back to his country. Gillo, who is afraid of flying, enters into a new path between the memory of the moment of his birth and the moment of his deportation. Between the two moments, Gillo meets himself and several characters that accompanied him in his life and he goes with them through a final journey towards the moment of truth.
“Gillo…. is an easy name to pronounce, it is graceful and flexible. It neither means anything nor implies anything. With this name you can open an easygoing and democratic conversation with the world. When I am asked about the origin of this name, I fabricate an appropriate nationality based on the origin and background of the person asking. Sometimes I am Italian, of an Italian father and grandfather: Ciao Gillo… Another time I am of Greek origin from a Lebanese mother… Sometimes Spanish from Moroccan origin: Olla Gillo… Sometimes a Moroccan from Spanish or Andalusian origin. This is a story I rarely use but it seems the most convincing. What disturbs me most is to be forced to give my real name: Al-Gillalee, a name starting with Al ‘the’, it is an Arabic name without a doubt, a name that incorporates an identity with all its difficulties.”
On the last night we meet Gillo the laugher, the lover and the fearful in an exciting theatrical evening.