GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip: Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” has opened to audiences in the Gaza Strip, albeit with a distinctly Palestinian twist.
Instead of the forbidden love story of Renaissance-era European aristocracy, the star-crossed young couple in Gaza’s version of the play is divided by politics stemming from the deep internal Palestinian split between two rival movements.
Yousef, a son of a member of Gaza’s ruling Hamas, falls in love with Suha, the daughter of a fanatical member of the rival Fatah party.
Dubbed “Romeo and Juliet in Gaza,” the performance has brought a rare taste of foreign culture to this conservative and isolated territory. But it is even more noteworthy for its critical look at the political rift that has crippled life in Gaza for nearly a decade.
“It’s a call for love; to give a space for love and for youths to dream of a beautiful future away from the current state in Gaza, especially the youths and their suffering,” said director Ali Abu Yassin.
The “great resemblance” between the feuding families in Shakespeare’s original tragedy and “the reality of Gaza” inspired Abu Yassin and Atef Abu Saif, a renowned novelist, to come up with play, Abu Yassin said.
On a recent evening at Al-Mis’hal Cultural Center in Gaza City, the audience laughed and clapped — and on occasion, even got up on its feet in appreciation of the 70-minute performance on the theater’s modest stage.
After the Palestinian national anthem was played, the black curtains opened to a scene of a cafe shop in a refugee camp neighborhood where youths were talking and playing cards.
To the 350 spectators, it was an accurate depiction of Gaza’s reality: in a territory where unemployment is over 40 percent, cafes are often crowded with idle young men who have little else to do.
In the play, as Suha’s father, a local doctor, enters the cafe, it is clear from his shaven face that he is from Fatah.
Yousef’s father Awni, a bearded merchant representing Hamas, also frequents the cafe, where he quarrels with the Fatah doctor. At times they scuffle, prompting the cafe owner to kick them out.
“Don’t reconcile! Keep cursing at each other” the owner yells at them.
“We will leave this land to you and go,” he adds, drawing a burst of applause from the audience.
Instead of the forbidden love story of Renaissance-era European aristocracy, the star-crossed young couple in Gaza’s version of the play is divided by politics stemming from the deep internal Palestinian split between two rival movements.
Yousef, a son of a member of Gaza’s ruling Hamas, falls in love with Suha, the daughter of a fanatical member of the rival Fatah party.
Dubbed “Romeo and Juliet in Gaza,” the performance has brought a rare taste of foreign culture to this conservative and isolated territory. But it is even more noteworthy for its critical look at the political rift that has crippled life in Gaza for nearly a decade.
“It’s a call for love; to give a space for love and for youths to dream of a beautiful future away from the current state in Gaza, especially the youths and their suffering,” said director Ali Abu Yassin.
The “great resemblance” between the feuding families in Shakespeare’s original tragedy and “the reality of Gaza” inspired Abu Yassin and Atef Abu Saif, a renowned novelist, to come up with play, Abu Yassin said.
On a recent evening at Al-Mis’hal Cultural Center in Gaza City, the audience laughed and clapped — and on occasion, even got up on its feet in appreciation of the 70-minute performance on the theater’s modest stage.
After the Palestinian national anthem was played, the black curtains opened to a scene of a cafe shop in a refugee camp neighborhood where youths were talking and playing cards.
To the 350 spectators, it was an accurate depiction of Gaza’s reality: in a territory where unemployment is over 40 percent, cafes are often crowded with idle young men who have little else to do.
In the play, as Suha’s father, a local doctor, enters the cafe, it is clear from his shaven face that he is from Fatah.
Yousef’s father Awni, a bearded merchant representing Hamas, also frequents the cafe, where he quarrels with the Fatah doctor. At times they scuffle, prompting the cafe owner to kick them out.
“Don’t reconcile! Keep cursing at each other” the owner yells at them.
“We will leave this land to you and go,” he adds, drawing a burst of applause from the audience.
