Date/Time
Date(s) - 28 May 2015
7:30 PM - 10:00 PM
Hastings PSC proudly presents:
The Freedom Theatre of Jenin and its production of “The Siege”
http://www.hastingspalestinecampaign.org
Thursday 28 May 2015
Doors 7pm, Start 7.30pm
St Mary in the Castle, Hastings TN34 3AF
| April 2002. Spring in Bethlehem. 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. |
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Directed by Nabil Al-Raee and Zoe Lafferty. The piece will be developed and devised by The Freedom Theatre actors, a unique ensemble who use culture as a form of resistance and who have lived under occupation their whole lives. See the trailer.
On-line tickets: £15 or concessionary £5 for under 21s (for the first 100 tickets) plus 10% service charge: online tickets
This will not only be the Freedom Theatre’s first ever tour of the UK, but will also be the biggest touring production ever by a Palestinian theatre company in the UK.
St Mary in the Castle is an ideal location as “The Siege” is based on the story of a group of resistance fighters who took refuge in the Church of the Nativity during the height of the second Intifada: St Mary was originally a church.
The directors traced the fighters who are now exiled across Europe and collected their untold accounts: “the Siege” is the result. This is a national tour, playing at 9 locations. In the south-east, it will be staged at just 2 venues – Battersea Arts Centre and St Mary.
“It is very exciting to welcome The Freedom Theatre’s tour of their new play “The Siege” to Britain. This is real political theatre, performed out of the both terrible and inspiring experience of a struggle for freedom and justice. They are living proof that telling stories and entertaining audiences are powerful acts of resistance to oppression. Do go and see them, they have news for us. This little theatre could change the world”…………playwright Howard Brenton.