ASHTAR Theatre
The ASHTAR Theatre is a Palestinian theatre and training center located in Ramallah, in the center of the West Bank. Founded in Jerusalem in 1991 by actors Iman Aoun and Edward Muallem, ASHTAR Theatre's mission is to "promote creativity and commitment for change through a novel combination of specific training and acting programs and services and professional theatre performances.".[1][2] ASHTAR Theatre is the first youth theatre school to be established in Palestine. The organization offers a variety of theatre based training programs for Palestinian youth and community members. Its goal is to promote creativity and commitment for socio-political change through theatre training which includes acting programs for youth, school-based and after-school theatre programs, forum theatre and a touring ensemble of professional actors [3]. The theatre has graduated hundreds of young actors and directors who have gone on to create their own theatre companies in the Middle East, Europe and the United States.
ASHTAR has issued eleven publications, including five theatre books, two drama manuals, and four academic journal articles. The theatre has been the subject of five documentary films. ASHTAR is currently has headquarters in Ramallah currently employs 10-15 employees[4].
Background
ASHTAR Theatre was established in Jerusalem in 1991 by Palestinian actors Iman Aoun and Edward Muallem and was the first theatre training center for youth in Palestine.
Before finding ASHTAR both Iman Aoun and Edward Muallem were prominent actors in the region who had been working together since 1977 in the El-Hakawati Theatre.
In 1995, ASHTAR started a professional ensemble with the graduates from the ASHTAR theatre training program[5]. Their performances have toured to theatre festivals throughout the Arab World, Europe, India, Hong Kong, Australia, and the United States. The theatre's troupe of professional actors (adults, over the age of 18) create several performances per year.
Programming
ASHTAR offers theatre programming to youth throughout the West Bank and the Gaza Strip which includes Drama Training[6], Professional Productions[7], Theatre of the Oppressed[8] and the ASHTAR International Youth Theatre Festival, which is coordinated by the youth graduates of the ASHTAR Theatre School. The festival started in 2012[9]. During the ASHTAR International Youth Theatre Festival artists from across the globe gather in Palestine for ten days of workshops, performances and trainings with ASHTAR and other local theatre companies in the West Bank including The Freedom Theatre, Yes Theatre and Al-Rowwad Cultural Center. All of the artists involved create a collaborative performance at the end of the festival.[10]
ASHTAR's youth training program is a five year theatre curriculum. This pre-professional program aims to provide students with leadership skills and a strong foundation to study theatre in college programs in Palestine and internationally. In their last year of the program, the graduating class of the ASHTAR Youth Program help to create the bi-annual ASHTAR International Youth Theatre Festival which attracts artists from across the globe.
One of ASHTAR's teaches and implements Forum Theatre in Palestinian communities. This type of theatre encourages audiences to interact with performers and engage in the most critical social and political issues in the community. ASHTAR's Forum Theatre is inspired by Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed and used to directly engage with marginalized communities in Palestine.
The Gaza Monologues
In 2010 ASHTAR Theatre initiated the Gaza Monologues, which were based on testimonies from participants in Gaza who wrote about their lives during the war from December 2008 to January 2009. Created over three months in theatre sessions led by drama instructors Ali Abu Yasin, Iman Aoun and psychologist Nadel Shaath[11], The Gaza Monologues focused on youth expressions of pain, fears, hopes and dreams.
According to the NGO Brave Kids, "The first performance was held in the morning of 17 October 2010 at the coast of the Mediterranean Sea: Gaza children floated their monologues as paper boats. They sent to the world the stories about bombs that killed their families, about destroyed houses, broken electricity pylons and lack of food. One child recollects how they came back home to take the beloved teddy bear and another how a grandma was hurriedly looking for false teeth during gunfire[12]."
The Gaza Monologues have been performed in 56 countries across the globe by 1500 young performers, in 14 languages[13]
Productions
| Year | Production |
| 2016 | Machine and Hammer[14] |
| 2015 | A Court[15] |
| 2014 | Al-meraya'a Wal-Qourqa'a[16] |
| 2013 | Rose Breaks Her Silence |
| 2013 | I Don't Know Where to Start |
| 2012 | She and He |
| 2012 | Station |
| 2011 | House of Yasmin |
| 2011 | The Right and the Bracelet |
| Year | Production |
|---|---|
| 2018 | Peer Gynt |
| 2017 | The Lower Depths of Maxim Gorky |
| 2015 | The Gaza Mono-Logues |
| 2014 | The Jubilee/Midsummer Night's Dream |
| 2012 | For Adults Only (18+) |
| 2010 | Memories of Amal |
| Year | Production |
|---|---|
| 2018 | The Right Move |
| 2017 | Oranges and Stones |
| 2014 | The Flesh Is Mine |
| 2014 | Sinbad and the Monster |
| 2013 | The Journey of Rida |
| 2012 | Richard II |
| 2010 | 48 Minutes for Palestine |
| 2006 | Era of the Whales |
Awards
| Year | Award | Honoree |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Best Music Award (Al Zaqa Theatre Festival in Jordan) | Oranges and Stones |
| 2015 | Woman of the Year (Palestinian Ministry of Women) | Iman Aoun |
| 2011 | Best Short Documentary Film (Il de Sol Festival) | The Gaza Mono-Logues/Khalil Muzayyen (director) |
| 2011 | Best Short Documentary Film (Al Jazeera Film Festival) | The Gaza Mono-Logues/Khalil Muzayyen (director) |
| 2007 | Grozdanen Kikot Award (UNESCO) | Edward Muallem |
| 2006 | Best Actress (The Cairo Experimental Theater Festival) | Bayan Shbib in “Safad Shatila & vice versa” |
| 2001 | Best Technique (Carthage Theatre Festival) | “Of Soil and Crimson”/ Sawsan Darwaza (director) |
| 1996 | Outstanding Actress in a Play (The Cairo Experimental Theater Festival) | Iman Aoun in “Martyrs are coming back” |
| 1996 | Outstanding Arab Theatre Play (The Cairo Experimental Theatre Festival) | “Martyrs are coming back”/ Sameh Hijazi (director) |
References
- ↑ Tresilian, Susannah. "Iman Aoun". http://www.projectariadne.com/. Archived from the original on 5 August 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2018. External link in
|website=(help)CS1 maint: Unfit url (link) - ↑ "Who We Are". ASHTAR Theatre. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- ↑ "Programming Professional Knowledge Exchange". http://dancingontheedge.nl/artists/ashatr-theatre/. 2010. Archived from the original on 20 April 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2018. External link in
|website=(help)CS1 maint: Unfit url (link) - ↑ "Palestinian Performing Arts Network". http://www.ppan.ps. Archived from the original on
|archive-url=requires|archive-date=(help). Retrieved 31 October 2018. External link in|website=(help) - ↑ Irving, Sarah (October 2012). "Shakespeare in Palestine: theater director speaks on Arabic version of Richard III". The Electronic Intifada. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
- ↑ "Drama Training". ASHTAR Theatre. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- ↑ "Professional Productions". ASHTAR Theatre. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- ↑ "Theatre of the Oppressed". ASHTAR Theatre. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- ↑ Coelho, Shebana (July 2014). "Dispatch from the Youth Theater Festival in Ramallah, Palestine—Part One". HowlRound Theatre Commons.
- ↑ Marinaccio, Ashley (25 September 2018). "The Impact of Youth Theatre in Palestine". HowlRound Theatre Commons – via HowlRound.
- ↑ "Ashtar Theatre Palestinian Autonomy". http://bravekids.eu/en/groups/39. External link in
|website=(help) - ↑ "Brave Kids: ASHTAR Theatre Palestinian Autonomy". http://bravekids.eu/en/groups/39. External link in
|website=(help) - ↑ Irving, Sarah (27 April 2017). "Shakespeare in Palestine: theater director speaks on Arabic version of Richard II". The Electronic Intifada. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
- ↑ "Machine and Hammer". ASHTAR Theatre. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- ↑ "A Court". ASHTAR Theatre. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- ↑ "Al-Merya'a Wal Qourqa'a Gallery". ASHTAR Theatre. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
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