|
TDP’S
FIRST PLAY
WITH THE FIRST TRAINING GROUP...!
GAZA 1995
"THE EXCEPTION AND THE
RULE"
Merchants are racing through the
desert. The winner can drill for oil at the other end. In the middle of the
desert, one paranoid merchant fires his guide and then shoots his porter.
The judges are called upon to keep the world order in order. The actors tell
the audience: You have seen and you have heard. What is not strange, find
strange! What is usual, find inexplicable, what is the rule, see it as
abuse, and when you recognize abuse, do something about it.
First rehearsals took place in
ridiculous, small spaces from hallways to unused classrooms. Finally, we
found some relief in the multi-purpose (and always in demand) hall at the
YMCA. Finally, we had a closed door and the privacy needed for
concentration. The actors, young men who came from different theatre
backgrounds and experiences, consolidated into one serious and committed
group with one common aim.
Made in Gaza.
The production was made in Gaza
The motto: if it isn't in Gaza, we don't need
it. A few craftsman, shop-keepers, businessmen, became involved and
concerned with the work and their participation in it. A shop-keeper who
works in Souk Ef-Fras and who usually sews plastic for building sites was busy
figuring out the best way to sew a plastic river, or to make the black
plastic costumes for the characters playing The Night. A chair-maker had to
figure out the best way to make a pair of chairs two meters high. The bamboo
carpenter, the dye seller, the hammer & nail shop, the shawarma chef, the
shirwal tailor, the water man, we did business with a whole range of people
who respected and accepted the peculiar dynamics of our theatre work. Many
Gaza merchants came in contact with the new production and the new
phenomenon.
The First
Audiences
The new Ministry of Education and the
Ministry of Culture joined in and the first performance of Theatre Day
Productions opened in Gaza September 28, 1995 before a select audience in
our rehearsal room at the YMCA. From there
we moved to the Jabaliya Youth Center to start working with high-school
kids, testing our target audience of 12-17 year olds. This is when
we decided that TDP’s audience would be no more than 200 kids at a time.
With everyone able to hear and see, the age group was 10-17.
The First
Drama Workshops
Following the show, the first drama workshops proved the biggest surprise of
all. The young adults had no problems acting out a scene, changing the
ending, imagining a new scene based on their experience with injustice. The
most touching moment of the day was when a young man made an official
request for an immediate audition. He was brought behind our curtain where
he sang us a song and then asked to sign up.
The First
Money
We were able to purchase some second-hand sound equipment and it was so
second hand that the second day we brought in a Gazan sound doctor to remake
the speakers. A stroke of good luck was finding post-production funding for
the actors and a 15-show school tour. This gave us a big push towards one of
the aims of Theatre Day Productions: to create a group working independently
and as professionals in theatre &
education.
Fifty performances and
workshops were given of “The Exception and the Rule”
THE FIRST TEAM
The Merchant – Naim Nassr
The Guide – Hussam Madhoun
The Porter and the Porter’s Wife – Jamal Rudzi
The Judge & Chorus 1 – Ali Abu Yassin
The Judge & Chorus 2 – Akram Abeid
2nd Merchant & Chorus 3 – Mohammed Abu Kweik
Innkeeper & Chorus 4 – Mustafa Nabih
Directed
by Jan Willems
Design by Jackie Lubeck
Original Music by Mustafa Al Kurd
Technical Work by Mohammed Subhi
Based on the play by Bertolt Brecht
|
