CAIRO: The Yale School of Drama in Connecticut is hosting a performance by the Palestinian Freedom Theater this Wednesday October 5. The theater group hails from the outskirts of Jenin in the West Bank. They are well known within the region for their skilled dramatization of the taboos of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The presentation will begin with an introduction to the Palestinian Freedom Theater's work, with a video highlighting the group's productions. After the performance, the group will host a discussion about the theater's history and work, and the impact they have had on the Israeli-Palestinian dialogue. The late Palestinian-Israeli director and actor Juliano Mer Khamis, in cooperation with Jonathan Stanczyk, a Swedish-Israeli director, founded the Palestine Freedom Theater in 2006. Together the men successfully worked with Palestinian and Israeli actors alike in various theater productions. They directed an Alice in Wonderland production with children from the nearby Jenin refugee camp, which gained enormous popularity. Sadly, unknown assailant gunned Mer Khamis down this last April, just outside his theater. To this day, the theater is working hard to keep their shows coming and the inspiration flowing. The death of Juliano Mer Khamis has been a matter of great controversy, and has been greatly politicized. Because no one knows the identity of the gunman, Palestinians and Israelis have pointed fingers of blame at one another. Unfortunately, this goes against the message that Mer Khamis and his theater worked to spread. “When we sat to discuss the name of The Freedom Theater, we said that the values we are going to implement or teach for or work with are not based on some kind of political agenda—state, party, flag, army—we want to deal with values that are more universal, that are more on the human level,” Mer Khamis once said about his work. A Ramallah citizen spoke to BikyaMasr.com about the late Mer Kamis. “Some people may make him into a diplomat or more of a representative of greater things than he actually was… but he was controversial, a unique voice that inspired a lot of people and pissed a lot of others off. He was just a very talented artist who was excessively thrown into politics through his death,” he said. The performance is open to the public, and no reservations are needed. The performance is set for October 5 from 4:30-6:00PM in the Yale Repertory Theater Lounge (1120 Chapel Street). Come early, it might be crowded. BM
