Abstract
The final chapter focuses on creative partnerships between Palestinian and international theatre-makers. Analysing two different productions, the chapter reflects on the opportunities and shortcomings associated with such collaborative endeavours. The first play, Our Sign is the Stone, stages the resistance of Nabi Saleh’s residents against settler and military violence. The second play, This Flesh is Mine, is a radical adaptation of Homer’s Iliad. Engaging with the processes underlying these collaborations, the chapter introduces a critique of international collaborations by focusing on how the challenges to such partnerships are overcome.
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Notes
- 1.
An abridged version of this chapter was published as: Gabriel Varghese, ‘Homer in Palestine,’ in Contemporary Approaches to Adaptation in Theatre, ed. Kara Reilly, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018, pp. 231–46.
- 2.
At their request, I refer to them as the Director and the Playwright.
- 3.
The Director, email to the author, February 10, 2015.
- 4.
For information on Border Crossings’ previous works, see: Border Crossings, ‘Past Productions,’ https://www.bordercrossings.org.uk/what-we-do/our-work (accessed February 11, 2020).
- 5.
Iman Aoun, interview with the author, February 20, 2015; and, Émile Saba, interview with the author, February 15, 2015.
- 6.
Jonatan Stanczak, interview with the author, February 20, 2015.
- 7.
Jonatan Stanczak, email to the author, February 16, 2015 (original typography).
- 8.
George Ibrahim, interview with the author, July 14, 2014.
- 9.
Jonatan Stanczak, interview with the author, February 20, 2015.
- 10.
Iman Aoun, interview with the author, February 20, 2015.
- 11.
For more information on the Drama Academy, see: Folkwang University of the Arts, ‘Drama Academy Ramallah 2009 to 2018,’ n.d., https://www.folkwang-uni.de/en/home/theater/intl-cooperations/drama-academy-ramallah (accessed February 11, 2020); and Qantara.de, ‘Drama School in the West Bank: Theatre of Hope,’ n.d., https://en.qantara.de/content/drama-school-in-the-west-bank-theatre-of-hope (accessed February 11, 2020).
- 12.
For more information, see: http://www.thefreedomtheatre.org/what-we-do/theatre/theatre-school (accessed November 18, 2015).
- 13.
For more information, see: Al-Harah Theater, ‘About PARC,’ n.d., https://www.alharah.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=92&Itemid=329 (accessed February 11, 2020).
- 14.
Jonatan Stanczak, interview with the author, February 20, 2015.
- 15.
Ibid.
- 16.
See, for example: The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), ‘Map 3: Defining the Palestinian Bantustan. Element #1: West Bank Areas A, B and C,’ n.d., https://icahd.org/map3/ (accessed February 11, 2020); and B’Tselem, ‘Acting the Landlord: Israel’s Policy in Area C, the West Bank,’ June 2013, https://www.btselem.org/download/201306_area_c_report_eng.pdf (accessed February 11, 2020).
- 17.
For more information on Israeli settlement, see: Peace Now, ‘West Bank Settlements—Facts and Figures,’ June 1, 2009, https://peacenow.org.il/en/west-bank-settlements-facts-and-figures (accessed February 11, 2020). A full list of West Bank settlements can be downloaded from this website. Figures are given in square metres. Population figures are for 2009.
- 18.
See, for example: ‘For first time, weekly Nabi Saleh protest reaches destination: its own spring,’ +972 Mag, June 30, 2012, http://972mag.com/for-first-time-friday-nabi-saleh-protest-reaches-destination-its-own-spring/49702 (accessed March 26, 2015). The use of violence is not restricted to adults but has also been targeted at children. See, for example: International Solidarity Movement, ‘VIDEO: Children assaulted and 3 women arrested at Nabi Saleh demonstration,’ March 21, 2015, http://palsolidarity.org/2015/03/video-children-assaulted-and-3-women-arrested-at-nabi-saleh-demonstration (accessed March 26, 2015); Maan News Agency, ‘Teen Hurt as Israeli Forces Suppress West Bank Demos,’ January 30, 2015, http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?id=757721 (accessed March 26, 2015).
- 19.
For more on Mustafa Tamimi’s death, see for example: Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, ‘Critically Injured Mustafa Tamimi of Nabi Saleh Dies of His Wounds,’ International Solidarity Movement, December 9, 2011, https://palsolidarity.org/2011/12/west-bank-protester-dies-of-his-wounds/ (accessed February 11, 2020); Lina Alsaafin, ‘No Miracle Yesterday in Nabi Saleh: Mustafa Tamimi Murdered,’ The Electronic Intifada, December 10, 2011, http://electronicintifada.net/content/no-miracle-yesterday-nabi-saleh-mustafa-tamimi-murdered/10678 (accessed 26 March 2015); Haggai Matar, ‘Mustafa Tamimi: A Murder Captured on Camera,’ +972 Magazine, December 11, 2011, http://972mag.com/mustafa-tamimi-a-murder-captured-on-camera/29459 (accessed March 26, 2015). For more on Nabi Saleh and its weekly protests, see the community website: http://nabisalehsolidarity.wordpress.com (accessed March 26, 2015).
- 20.
Manal Tamimi, interview with the author, February 12, 2015.
- 21.
This tour included the refugee camps of Balata in Nablus and Al-Aroub near Hebron as well as the villages of Nabi Saleh, Kufr Qaddum, Al-Jab’a, Fasa’il, Ni’lin, Budrus, Deir Abu Masha’al, Al-Ma’asarah, Beit Ummar and Atwani.
- 22.
For the Nabi Saleh performance, see: Bilal Tamimi, ‘Nabi Saleh Play: The Stone is Our Sign’ (Arabic), YouTube, May 5, 2013, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7POt7bdOEk (accessed March 27, 2015). The video is edited with footage from the real events referenced in Scenes 3 and 4 as well as the storyteller’s final speech.
- 23.
All quotations are taken from the English-language rehearsal copy of Our Sign is the Stone as written by the Playwright.
- 24.
The Playwright, email to the author, September 5, 2013.
- 25.
Ibid.
- 26.
Ibid.
- 27.
Ibid.
- 28.
The Playwright, email to the author, January 27, 2015.
- 29.
The Playwright, email to the author, September 5, 2013.
- 30.
Michael Walling, interview with the author, February 11, 2015.
- 31.
Ibid.
- 32.
Michael Walling quoted in Ellie Violet Bramley, ‘This Flesh is Mine: Homer, Car Bombs and Jack Bauer,’ The Guardian, May 23, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/may/23/this-flesh-is-mine-border-crossing (accessed April 29, 2015).
- 33.
Michael Walling, email to author, February 24, 2015.
- 34.
Michael Walling, interview with author, February 11, 2015.
- 35.
Ibid.
- 36.
Ibid.
- 37.
Ibid.
- 38.
Michael Walling, interview with the author, February 11, 2015. Due to other commitments, Woolland was only able to be present in Ramallah for the fourth and final week of rehearsals. Instead, the conversations with him took place on Skype.
- 39.
Brian Woolland, email to the author, March 2, 2015.
- 40.
Iman Aoun, interview with the author, February 20, 2015.
- 41.
Émile Saba, interview with the author, February 15, 2015.
- 42.
Brian Woolland, interview with the author, February 17, 2015.
- 43.
Here, I draw from my own rehearsal notes dated April 14, 2013.
- 44.
Émile Saba, interview with the author, February 15, 2015.
- 45.
Jonatan Stanczak, interview with the author, February 20, 2015.
- 46.
Ibid.
- 47.
Iman Aoun, interview with the author, February 20, 2015.
- 48.
Ben Rivers, email to the author, October 13, 2013. The assertion of ‘nobody’ is based on face-to-face interviews with audience members after every performance of Our Sign is the Stone. Rivers conducted these interviews with the help of a translator.
- 49.
Manal Tamimi, interview with the author, February 12, 2015.
- 50.
Jonatan Stanczak, interview with the author, February 20, 2015.
- 51.
Ibid.
- 52.
Ibid.
- 53.
Jonatan Stanczak, interview with the author, February 20, 2015.
- 54.
Iman Aoun, interview with the author, February 20, 2015.
- 55.
Michael Walling, email to the author, February 20, 2015.
- 56.
Ibid.
- 57.
Iman Aoun, interview with the author, February 20, 2015.
- 58.
Ibid.
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Varghese, G. (2020). Acting on the Pain of Others. In: Palestinian Theatre in the West Bank. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30247-4_5
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