Who We Are - The Freedom Theatre (2024)

• Produced over 25 theatre plays, includingadaptations of George Orwell’sAnimal Farm, Ghassan Khanafani’sMen in the Sun, Lewis Carroll’sAlice in Wonderland,Harold Pinter’sThe Caretakerand Athol Fugard’sThe Island, andoriginal plays such asFragments of Palestine,Sho Kman,Stolen Dreams,Power/Poison,Math Exam,Return to Palestine,The SiegeandSuicide Note from Palestine.
• Trained a core of actors, stage managers, theatre technicians, photographers, filmmakers and instructorsthat can independently run what has become one of Palestine’s largest cultural centres. Over fifteentheatre students have graduated from ourTheatre School, more than five hundred young women and men have been trained inphotography and filmand have passed their skills on to others.
• Performed for more than 100 000children, youth and adults in Jenin refugee camp and beyond.
• Reached out to more than 50 communities in occupied Palestine.
• Performed,held workshops and presentations in 15 countries.

Although The Freedom Theatre’s focus is on theatre and visual arts, we do not take a neutral position on the issue of Israeli apartheid, colonisationand military occupation. Nor do we turn a blind eye to the internal violations of human rights, in particularthe rights of women and children.

For the oppressed, the arts have always been a powerful tool for liberation. For usPalestinians, artistic expression is an integrated part of our quest for justice, equality and freedom.

The Freedom Theatre’s vision is a cultural resistance movement at the core of a free and critical Palestinian society. Through cultural resistance, The Freedom Theatre aims to raise a new generation that is able to challenge all forms of oppression.

So what is cultural resistance? It starts withplay. Play is not reserved for children; it is the basic desire to experiment and test reality, which is a prerequisite for creativity and imagination. Everything we do in The Freedom Theatre contains an element of play. Through play, we can deconstruct an oppressive reality and make it comprehensible, which is the first step towards changing it. Just as we cannot imagine more colours than what our eyes have seen, we cannot imagine a reality beyond our own experiences and frames of reference. Then, we can dream and create change together.

The Freedom Theatre draws its inspiration from a unique project, Care and Learning, which used theatre and art to address the chronic fear, depression and traumaexperienced by children in Jenin Refugee Camp. Set up during the first Intifada the project was run byArna Mer Khamis, a revolutionary who devoted her life to campaigning for freedom and human rights, together with women in the refugee camp.

The fierce and energetic humanity of this woman, who was born to a Jewish family and who had chosen to live and work among the Palestinians, inspired the children with possibilities for an alternative reality. Arna wasawardedthe Right Livelihood Award, also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize, in 1993 for her «…passionate commitment to the defence and education of the children of Palestine». With the award money she built a children’s theatre, the Stone Theatre, which was later destroyed in the Israeli invasion of the refugee camp in 2002.

rna’s work is documented inthe internationally awarded filmArna’s Children, which gives some fascinating background to The Freedom Theatre. The film is directed byJuliano Mer Khamis, Arna’s son who in 2006 co-founded The Freedom Theatre. Juliano was the General Director of the theatre until 2011, when he was brutally assassinated by an unknown enemy of culture and freedom.

Thanks to the support from friends around the world, the staff and board members managed to keep the theatre going and growingever stronger.Just as The Freedom Theatre was built on the inspiration and legacy of Arna, Juliano’s mother, so will its future work be built on the legacy of Juliano. It will carry on his message to promote freedom – not only for the Palestinian people but for all human beings.

We are mourning, but we will continue our resistance through art, continue our struggle, continue to do our better than best.As Juliano would say: The Revolution must go on!

The Freedom Theatre is a Palestinian organisation and as such most of its staff come from the Jenin community. The theatre also engages international staff and volunteers on short and long-term basis.
In addition to the Palestinian organisation, The Freedom Theatre is supported by a foundation that has a separate, international Board.

To reach any of the staff members by email,click on the email icon below:
Or you can call the Office phone: +970(0)4 2503345