In 2016 a group of artistic collaborators in Gaza and London began a series of digital workshops as an alternative means to defy the blockade.
Out of the exchanges emerged a theatre piece where they appear together in a single space shared by audiences in both cities. The last live performances were in July 2018, connecting El Wedad Theatre with Battersea Arts Centre and the Everyman Theatre as part of LAAF's 2018 festival in Liverpool.
At Home in Gaza and London follows the lives of people living in two locations separated by great political, economic, and physical divides. By using a mix of live-streaming and recorded video, a single performance space is created where artists work together. They occupy each other’s homes, streets and other social spaces. Sharing their everyday behaviour and concerns, as they dissolve into each other or become ghostly protagonists in the drama.
Many of the collaborators in the production are still living in Gaza. They have lost family members, friends, colleagues, and homes. One of them, Ayah Abdulrahman died of cancer in 2019, having received intermittent yet insufficient treatment due to the blockade on Gaza. All of the studios and theatres we worked in have been destroyed.
The event will share messages from the Gazan team and will try to connect to those we can live.
All ticket sales will go towards the project's collaborators who are trying to survive unimaginable circumstances. Before the bombardment, disabled dancer Walid Tafesh was leading one of the few workshop programmes for children in Jabalia, North Gaza. Walid hopes to resume his work when it is possible.
Credits
Station House Opera
Co-directed by Julian Maynard Smith and Taghrid Choucair-Vizoso
Co-devised and performed by: Ayah Abdelrahman, Abeer Ahmed, Tara Fatehi Irani, Ali Al-Hassany, Yoko Ishiguro, Mariam Nasser, Hamza Saftawi, Walid Tafesh and Owl Young. Assistant Directors: Ebaa Rezeq and Amjad Shabat
Technical Director: Matthew Wasser
Technicians: Alex Hewitt, Paul Thomas, Mohammed AlGhoul, Mohammed Salem
Sound Designer: Enrico Aurigemma
Lighting Designer: Alastair Armstrong
Stage Manager: Sophia Tuffin
Produced by Ania Obolewicz
The journey of At Home in Gaza and London has been supported by: Arts Council England, Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, Qattan Foundation, Battersea Arts Centre, Gaza Sky Geeks, Fusion, LIFT, Arab British Centre, Watermans.
With thanks to producers Victoria Lupton and Aimee Shalan (Pressure Cooker Arts), Yasmeen El Khoudary, Najlaa Atallah, and Hani Murtaja.
Venue:
Bluecoat Performance Space, School Lane, Liverpool, L1 3BX
Image: At Home in Gaza and London photographs by Moataz Al Araj and Rob Harris.
