From the festival
צילום: אחמד אבו שמיס
Modern Arab theater festival in Jaffa
'A Thousand Nights' festival, to open at beginning of May, will present plays by playwrights from Syria, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Authority that were translated to Hebrew
The Arab-Hebrew Theater in Jaffa will launch “A Thousand Nights” festival of modern Arab drama at the beginning of May. The festival, the first of its kind in Israel, will host this year nine plays by contemporary Arab playwrights from Israel, Egypt, Syria and the Palestinian Authority. All of the plays were translated into Hebrew especially for the festival.
The plays selected to participate at the festival present a wide array of voices and styles: plays on social and political issues, surrealist plays, plays of the absurd, satires and popular drama.
The list includes: “He is not dead” by Hussein Barghouti from Ramallah, directed by Francois Abu Salem; “The Mask” by Syrian playwright Mamduakh Oudwan, translated by Varda Fisch and directed by Norman Issa; “The trial of the man who did not fight” by Mamduakh Oudwan, translated by Yotam Benshalom and directed by Doron Tavori; “Crazy Saadon” by Egyptian playwright Lenin El-Ramali, translated by Gabriel Rosenbaum and directed by Yigal Ezrati; “Ladies and gentlemen” by Syrian playwright Mahmoud El-Maghut, translated by Imad Jabarin and directed by Adiv Jahshan; “Rule of the court” by Egyptian playwright Mahmoud Taymor, translated and directed by Guy Cohen; “Song of death” by Egyptian playwright Taufic El-Hakim, translated by Yotam Benshalom and directed by Oleg Radobilsky; “The fate of a cockroach” by Taufic El-Hakim, translated and directed by Imad Jabarin; and “The birds build their nests between the fingers” by Gaza-based playwright Mu’in Bassiso, translated by Hannah Amit Kochavi and directed by Dennis Shema.
Apart from the theater pieces and the nightly readings, experts will lecture on the contemporary theater in Arab countries. Dr. Masoud Hamdan will lecture on Palestinian theater, Prof. Shmuel Moreh will lecture on the Arab shadow theater, Prof. Sasson Somech will lecture on the language of the Arab theater, Prof. Ted Ziesser (NYU) will speak of Syrian theater and Prof. Gabay Rosenbaum will lecture on the theater in Egypt.
The artistic director of the festival is Dr. Varda Fisch and it is produced by Mahmoud Dessouki of El Sarayeh Theater. The list of participants includes Norman Issa, Sarah Fon Schwartze, Ali Souliman, Doron Tavori, Yuli Har-Gil, Salim Dau, Imad Jabarin, Oleg Radobilsky, Nassarin Farour, Huda Aiman, Dennis Shema, Guy Cohen, Hemda Atla, Gad Kinar, Moussa Zakhalakeh, Shadi Sarur, Rauda Saliman, Francois Abu-Salem, Yigal Ezrati, Adiv Jahshan, Salim Sh’khade and Fares Hannina.
A Thousand Nights festival, 6-12 May, at the Arab-Hebrew Theater in Jaffa
