The Siege - Jenin Freedom Theatre

Palestine play commemorates siege at Bethlehem

The Siege comes to St Mary-in-the-Castle as part of the Jenin Freedom Theatre UK Tour after being invited here by the Hastings Palestine Solidarity Campaign. It is directed by Nabil Al-Raee and Zoe Lafferty. John Knowles previews the play.

‘My Dream is that The Freedom Theatre, will be the major force, cooperating with others, in generating a cultural resistance, carrying on its shoulders universal values of freedom and justice’  Thus spoke Juliano Mer Khamis  director of The Jenin Freedom Theatre,who was murdered in 2011. The company have received numerous death threats, had its members interrogated and imprisoned and had their premises attacked on many occasions, all for the crime of creating a political and artistic movement of theatre and film-makers who could fight the Israeli Occupation through art and use cultural resistance as a tool to fight oppression.

The play has been developed and devised by The Freedom Theatre actors, a unique ensemble who have lived under occupation their whole lives. In April 2002. Members of the Palestinian resistance seek sanctuary in one of the world’s holiest sites as the Israeli army closes in with helicopters, tanks and snipers. Along with the fighters are some 200 priests, nuns and civilians. The siege lasts for 39 days, paralysing the centre of Bethlehem and keeping tens of thousands under curfew.

Inside the Church of the Nativity the besieged are hungry and weakening. The smell of unwashed bodies and broken lavatories is mixed with the stench from the suppurating wounds of the injured. Two dead bodies are decomposing in a cave below the church. While the world is watching, the fighters are faced with the question of whether to struggle to the end or to surrender. No matter what they choose, they will have to leave their families and their homeland behind forever.

The Siege at St Mary in the Castle, Hastings TN34 3AF. Thurs 28 May 2015. Doors: 19.00 Start: 19.30 Tickets available at the Hastings Tourist Information Centre TN34 3UY, Hastings PSC meetings and information stalls: £15 or online tickets £15 (concessionary £5 for under 21s for the first 100 tickets) plus 10% service charge.

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