The Freedom Theatre has travelled extensively this season, presenting our work in Portugal, Sweden and USA. The three separate tours have expanded our reach and given us the opportunity to introduce the concept of cultural resistance in Palestine to new audiences.
In Portugal, our third-year Theatre School students Ihab Talahmeh, Raneen Odeh, Amir Abu Alrob, Ibraheem Moqbel and Samah Mahmoud presented two plays: Return to Palestine and Images from the life of Ghassan Kanafani. Together with the rest of the team; Micaela Miranda, Nabil Al-Raee, Ahmed Tobasi and Alaa Shehada, they also participated in workshops, talks, debates and documentary film screenings.
This was The Freedom Theatre’s first visit to Portugal, organised by the newly founded Portuguese Friends Association, that through the tour was able to recruit new members and deepen collaborations with cultural institutions throughout the country. The tour was very successful and an important learning experience for the students, who are soon to graduate. They were able to present themselves in a professional setting and to communicate with audiences, journalists and peers, reflecting on their identity as young Palestinian artists.
In Sweden, Nabil Al-Raee and Jonatan Stanczak took part in a series of public events in three cities, organised by the Friends of The Freedom Theatre and partners. They spoke of the conditions for political theatre in a Palestinian refugee camp and The Freedom Theatre’s role in the Palestinian liberation movement. They also met several theatre institutions and groups, to discuss a future co-production of a theatre play, Pippi Longstocking in Palestine in late 2017-early 2018, as well as to explore potential venues for a tour of The Siege in autumn 2018. The visit gave ample proof that solidarity for Palestine is very much alive in Sweden, and that art has the power to inspire in times of seeming hopelessness.
In October the US Friends of The Freedom Theatre organised a tour of the multimedia exhibition Palestine in Focus, that visited New York, Washington DC, San Francisco and Berkeley. Speaking at public and private venues as well as at universities, Mustafa Sheta, Baraa Sharqawi, Mohammed Moawia and Hala Diab showcased the theatre’s work through video, photography and talks. Palestine in Focus displayed for the first time in the US, The Freedom Theatre’s reach beyond theatre and drama. The tour was a resounding success; “beyond our wildest dreams” according to board member Constancia Dinky Romilly.