The Freedom Theatre - Community Theatre

People react in different ways to the mention of Jenin City and the Freedom Theatre. Israelis often raise eyebrows; Palestinians and Arabs with Israeli passports raise eyebrows but smile as well. All know, mention, and have an opinion about the murder of Juliano Mer Khamis, the theatre's founding director. As a teacher from Colorado on a Fulbright scholarship for a project about teaching about Palestinian and Israeli identity through the arts, I recently found true hospitality, enthusiasm and engagement on a visit to the Freedom Theatre. The organization houses an international and local arts community committed to developing Mer Khamis’ version of the "third intifada," which he described as needing to be "cultural; with poetry, music, theatre, cameras and magazines." I witnessed staff members experimenting with equipment needed for training actors; young actors and artists wanting to share their craft, whether rapping directing or acting; a facility with a beautiful exterior and an expanding interior; and a welcome disproportionate to who I was (a Colorado school teacher). This sounds very cheerful when you consider the problems the Freedom Theatre has been having in the last year. Both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority seem bent on shutting it down, short of that, arresting artistic directors and even throwing cement blocks at the facility in the middle of the night. However, from my perspective and from many internationals (to name a few: Morgan Freeman, Maya Angelou, and Vanessa Redgrave), the Freedom Theatre provides much needed support and an outlet for the youth of the Jenin refugee camp.

To get to the Freedom Theatre, I took a bus from East Jerusalem to Ramallah and then a servees to Jenin. In Jenin I took a taxi for what should have been a short walk to the courtyard of the Freedom Theatre. There I was greeted by Jonatan Stanzack, the general manager, and Qais, a 22 year old director and actor who has been involved with the Freedom Theatre since he was 15. Stanzack, who obviously had his hands more than full, offered to put me up in his apartment since the guesthouse was full of visiting journalists.

I spent the next 24 hours watching Qais direct his first play, interviewing Stanzack, catching a rap performance, interviewing Sarah Tuck, the photography instructor, talking to the children who comfortably hang out in the yard, walking into the center of Jenin and the refugee camp, photographing the street art, and generally being a part of an energetic, creative, and very welcoming organization. Among too many activities to mention here , the Freedom Theatre provides the following activities for its confined and often frustrated community: drama as a form of therapy, playback theatre: an improvisational form that uses stories from the audience as material for drama and debate, multimedia activities, and after-school drama groups.

Yes, the Freedom Theatre is concerned with and has as its subject matter suffering, economic distress, the separation barrier, the checkpoints, and criticism of the Occupation, but it also looks at the problems within its conservative Palestinian society: the lives of women and the problems caused by tradition and religion. And this brings us to one of the Freedom Theatres most controversial innovations in the very conservative Palestinian society: the encouragement of girls and women to be part of everything.

Interview with Sarah Tuck, Photography Teacher