Palestinian Theatre

The evening begins with an introduction by Cees Vossen (Mint Arts Platform) and Aïcha Mouhamou, who will together frame the plays within the context of contemporary Palestinian theatre and the Arab Repertoire Project.

Following this, Atta Nasser, Rimah Jabr, and Sara De Bosschere will present a multilingual reading of excerpts from the three texts—in Arabic, English, and Dutch. Yamen Martini's musical performance will accompany their words.

The evening concludes with a conversation about This Is NOT What I Want to Tell You with Rimah Jabr (author and director) and Brigitte Herremans (Middle East expert at Ghent University and author of the recent Paul Verbraeken Lecture: Palestine – Resistance Against Loss).

Palestinian Theatre includes the following works:

This Is NOT What I Want to Tell You – Rimah Jabr
A 15-year-old girl wakes up after a night of sleepwalking, not in her bed but beside the fence of a settlement. With a bleeding arm and a knife beside her, she is accused by the police of a terrorist attack. But what really happened?

Fireworks – Dalia Taha
This play takes us into life under occupation in an unnamed Palestinian city at the beginning of the 21st century. We follow two families as war intrudes on their daily lives. At its heart are Lubna, an 11-year-old girl, and her neighbour Khalil. Their play is infused with fear, while we also witness Lubna’s transition into adulthood and the grief of her parents.

YES DADDY – Bashar Murkus
An older man and a young male escort meet for one night. What begins as a fragile relationship evolves into a complex game of power and dependency. As the older man’s memory slowly fades, an intense, layered confrontation unfolds between the two.