The ASHTAR Theatre in Ramallah is calling on theatres around the world to perform the Gaza Monologues on Wednesday 29 November and share images of the performances on social media.
The play, produced by the Palestinian theatre company in 2010, consists of 31 testimonies from children and young people who lived through the war in Gaza in 2008 and 2009. In short monologues they recount what happened to them during those weeks. As the violence in Gaza has viciously erupted again, the text is as relevant today as it was 13 years ago.
“Tragically, these monologues are still accurate today,” the theatre writes on their website. “They highlight the horror, hope and resilience of courageous Gazans to a wider audience, while bringing forward the voices of children and people in Gaza.”
The United Nations General Assembly has declared November 29 as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. That is why ASHTAR Theatre is calling for the text to be performed again on that day.
Several artists and culture houses in Flanders and Brussels are responding to this call. Readings and activities will be organised in several cities on 29 November. The action has no general organising committee, but is a collective solidarity action from the cultural field to answer the call of the Palestinian theatre.
The call is open: all the monologues can be downloaded on the Ashtar Theatre’s website in different languages. The text was also translated into Dutch for this initiative.
ACTIONS GOUVERNEMENT
We organise and support initiatives that ensure the monologues will be heard and read outside theatres:
VIDEO: Erasmus University College’s Social Cultural Work and Social Work programme recorded some monologues with Aya Sabi, Ele & Minne Huysmans, Dounia Mahammed, Nata Mandaria, Nora Eisssa & Veerle Bryon, Insaf El M’Rabet, Rashif El Kaoui and Yousra Benfquih. Gouvernement supported this initiative together with Het TheaterFestival and Kunstenfestivaldesarts. You can watch the video here.
POSTER CAMPAIGN: Together with VIERNULVIER, we are providing a poster campaign in Ghent with quotes from the monologues.
OPEN SOURCE:
