Half the population of Gaza is under 15 years old.

Once children leave home on that first impressive day of school, their lives are formed by the educational environment. School life is life itself. From kindergarten to graduation day, students are busy learning, personalities are formed, opinions are taken, talents are discovered, professionals are considered.

The child from the ghetto and the child from the villa will have dramatically different environments and opportunities but they will all be able to move between the cities and among the streets in search of a better life.

This page is for the children and young people in school whose world has been sealed shut. It is about a situation where, if there was an Einstein, an Ibn Sina, a Madam Marie Curie, a Ghandi, a Shakespeare, we would be incapable of finding him or her. We are talking about children who are physically shut out from the world, from their compatriots in neighboring countries – and in Palestine – from each other.

These same children live a daily and personal conflict in which their schools are poor, ugly, severely over-crowded, using old fashioned curricula taught by desperately bored and under-trained teachers. After school, the digital world takes over and these same kids communicate with the world they have been sealed off from. Frustration grows as physical borders stay shut and virtual borders are wide open. TDP has ways to open the world to these children using the power and wonder of artistic expression and the freedom that comes with it.

Drama requires children to live in an alternative space, a space where the individual must exist in the group for achievement. Individual expression along with group dynamics is the starting point. Personal development, learning to learn, cultural expression, and social responsibility are all examples of what is required in the search for perfection and quality when working in the world of artistic expression.

Art and beauty bring a sense of national togetherness, achievements bring pride. It is not the fault of the Gaza children that their lives are rotting away. Theatre Day Productions is dedicated to improving the lives of the young people with art and beauty, with achievements, and with pride. We are dedicated to keeping Palestinians in Palestine by choice and not by shut borders. The artists work towards hearing questions from children: What’s next? How can we make it better? How can I make it better?

Play your part! Become a partner of Theatre Day Productions. 

Contact: tdp@theatreday.org