A crusade on stage

Touching lives and concerns of refugees the world over, the Palestinian Freedom theatre troupe is in the city to put forth its latest offering Freedom Jatha, in collaboration with Jana Natya Manch

‘Oppression and iniquity’ are the words most often associated with refugee camps the world over. But attempting to change this convention is a small eight-member group of theatre artists from Palestine’s Jenin refugee camp who have set out to prove that the only things oppression cannot trample are joy, hope and dreams.

Bringing a taste of their life to Mumbai, the Palestinian Freedom Theatre Troupe, headed by theatre artist Faisal Abu is currently on a collaborative tour of Indian cities with Delhi’s Jana Natya Manch. Having garnered a positive and welcoming response in cities such as Lucknow, Delhi and Bhopal, the collaborative effort, despite being partly in Arabic is fast becoming a sensation in Mumbai as well.

With three shows already performed at various places across the city, Jana Natya Manch’s Sudhanva Deshpande who put together the collaborative effort, tells us how the two troupes came together. He says, “While it might seem unlikely at the outset, the Jana Natya Manch and the Freedom Theatre Troupe have a lot in common. Our core ideals are the same and we’ve both suffered the loss of our founders, who were victims of oppression. Our founder Safdar Hashmi was fatally attacked during a performance near Delhi in 1989. Similarly, their founder Juliano Mer-Khamis, who was also a popular actor and activist was also assassinated when coming out of a performance in 2011.”

Telling us about the project, Sudhanva says, “The plays are aimed at making people know about the oppression that residents of occupied Palestine suffer. However, the plays themselves are not about that. It is in fact about the hopes, dreams and the sort of joie de vivre that these people experience everyday in spite of their troubles. Which is why everyone here can connect so well with it too.”

And this joy of living is quite perceivable in the members of the Freedom Theatre Troupe as well — especially its leader Faisal Abu, who describes his troupe’s trip to India as a ‘great adventure’. Telling us about the experience in the country, Faisal says, “India has been a wonderful experience. Back in Palestine, theatre is still limited, but in India there is big expression, colour and music in theatre. However at the bottom line, what connects both our troupes is the idea and belief that art can bring a change in society.”

Titled Freedom Jatha, the performance is a mix of Half Arabic and Hindi, but it is not targeted at only those who understand Arabic, says Sudhanva. “The emotions and the colours come through even when people don’t understand the language. Everyone will be able to connect with the ‘language’ of the play, because the ideas espoused are relatable,” he adds.

Predominantly made in a street theatre format, Sudhanva tells us the project was crowd-funded. “There was a memorial for Mer-Khamis and we met these guys there. They had heard about us and we had heard of their work and initially there was no plan to collaborate. Everything happened very organically and soon we were sharing ideas and it became a project.”

Adding about the response the performance has gotten, he says, “It has truly been heart-warming and wonderful. We weren’t trying to evoke any reaction but merely showcase what we thought was moving and entertaining. And people have truly welcomed us in every city we’ve been to.” Faisal adds, “We see people carrying banners and waving enthusiastically to welcome us and it is really heart warming. I think people in India are able to connect with our cause because of the popularity of street theatre as a weapon against oppression. India has effectively used theatre as a tool against British oppression and caste inequalities and several other issues. So they can relate to us and our fight to retain our identity as Palestinians.”

With four cities already toured in their 10-city programme, the Freedom Jatha will make their next stop after Mumbai in Kerala. The tour also includes over 30 performances in cities such as Bengaluru, Patna, Hyderabad and Kolkata. However, this ten-city tour is hopefully only the first leg of the project, adds Faisal who is hopeful of taking back more than just memories to Palestine. “The plan is to get, not only the Jana Natya Manch, but also other local Indian theatre troupes to come and perform in Palestine. We want to create a cultural bridge between the two countries through theatre and that would be incomplete without performances by Indian troupes in Palestine.”

Upcoming shows in Mumbai: On January 6, 11 am At Marathi Bhasha Bhawan, On January 6, 6.30 pm, At University Kalina Campus Zakaria Compound, Sonapur, Bhandup (W).