Hello Palestine! We are staying in a city of Beit Jala, just next to Bethlehem. We found Lionel on a big telly, waving at the national flag of Palestine! Here, we are participating Palestine International Theater Festival for Children and Youth. A number of Palestinian companies were joined by a Taiwanese company, a Brazilian artist originally from the Basque Country, a German company led by a Syrian choreographer (who was absent), a Scottish company led by an immigrant artist (and an immigrant lion) and more. It’s all amazingly political! This is a 70-year old refugee camp, Aida. Extraordinary DIY architecture was built storey by storey, by generations of its residents. Next to the camp is the ‘wall’.Even more ‘wall’ It is in fact over 700km in total. There was an open-air theatre just beside the wall. I wish we’d performed here! We had our first lunch at a lovely outdoor restaurant.
Why outdoor? Because it’s in Area C. See: wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_C_(West_Bank)This is our 1st venue: Al-Kasaba Theatre, Ramallah. Ramallah is a busy city that serves as the de facto administrative capital of Palestine. Our 2nd was Russian Centre, Bethlehem. The foyer is a bit Lynchesque when empty if you pay attention to the details. But that is only until the children arrive! Look how enthusiastic everyone is to enrol in Pooniversity. Lionel meets the brilliant students who have been selected! Well, everyone has learned so much about eating, being eaten, digestion and defecation. So at the end they’ve all got degrees in Poology! Congratulations!Everyone we met here was so kind, positive and imaginative. We love to come back.
Til then, thank you and bye bye Palestine!
Mamoru Iriguchi, Suzi Cunningham and Gavin Pringle presented Eaten as part of Palestine International Theater Festival of Children and Youth in Ramallah and Bethlehem in 8th and 9th April 2019. They were supported by the Festival and also through Creative Scotland‘s Onward Touring Fund.
