I expect some [protests] he says and that’s fine really The
“I expect some [protests],” he says, “and that’s fine really The important thing is that we present shows And this is one that we think people should see. You can smell it in the street, you can see it everywhere.”London is more phlegmatic, but David Lan is braced for a little friction. I knew that already – what surprised me is how deeply ingrained that influence is in America. “In America,” Ibrahim reports, “people are totally twisted to the Israeli side. And this is our life.” He was pleased with audience’s responses – but alarmed by the culture. Performances were followed by tense debates about the Arab-Israeli conflict.”The image of Palestinians,” Ibrahim told his US crowd, “especially in America, is that of terrorists But we are human beings We are artists.
Audiences had to pass through metal detectors to enter the theatre. “We had been informed before we went,” says Ibrahim, “that there were people trying to shut us up, to take away our right to speak, as if the world should listen only to their version.” Sure enough, the company’s gigs at the Long Wharf Theater in New Haven were picketed by the pro-Israeli lobby. It wasn’t until we got to the States that we could rehearse together.”Their trip to the States, at the start of this month, was hardly less stressful. There’s seldom the opportunity, because we’re scattered between Jerusalem and Ramallah It’s impossible because of the checkpoints and the curfews. On a more practical level, says Ibrahim, “we can’t meet one another to work.
It’s tempting to speculate that new events so grimly resembled old events that fresh scenes were unnecessary. According to Ibrahim, the actors were exhausted by having to constantly devise new sketches to respond to new events. If it had been a day later, who knows?”The version of Alive from Palestine that the company escaped with is less fluid than last year’s, however. Ramallah was closed at the end of June, but by then they were safely in Jerusalem and on their way out.