JENIN, WEST BANK - DECEMBER 15: A view of destroyed houses which has walls covered with burn marks due to highly flammable explosives Israeli forces use in attacks at the Jenin refugee camp and around the city of Jenin, West Bank on December 15, 2023. (Photo by Adri Salido/Anadolu via Getty Images)
In a display of unity and empathy, Well Worn Theatre Company in Johannesburg and the newly formed African Artists Against Apartheid network have expressed solidarity with The Freedom Theatre, a Palestinian cultural institution in the Jenin refugee camp.
The Freedom Theatre, operating since 2006 in the West Bank, has been a source of
innovative and thought-provoking theatre and media productions challenging power structures and providing a platform for joy and expression.
The solidarity initiative took shape in the form of an open letter, denouncing the violent intrusion by the Israeli Defence Force into the homes of Ahmed Tobasi, the theatre’s artistic director, and producer Mustafa Sheta on the morning of 13 December 2023.
Sheta was blindfolded and taken away without any information provided to his family,
while Tobasi faced physical violence before being detained. The offices of The Freedom Theatre were ransacked, and equipment destroyed.
The letter details the attack and highlights the broader pattern of violence against trainers, students and participants associated with The Freedom Theatre, shedding light on the alarming situation faced by Palestinians.
Kyla Davis, the artistic director at Well Worn Theatre Company, explains why the South African theatre community felt compelled to respond.
“Two weeks into the Gaza war, a WhatsApp group came together that has quickly
grown into a pan-African network of artists and cultural workers called African Artists
Against Apartheid. It is just artists, cultural workers and journalists coming together
under the banner free Palestine,” she said.
The formation of this network, motivated by a shared commitment to the cause of a free Palestine, demonstrates the global reach of the solidarity movement.
“This letter happened quite spontaneously. We have been activating around certain
causes and this felt very personal to me as a theatre maker and to my colleagues as
well. It felt like we just had to say something because they are like us. It could be any
of our organisations. Looking at their website you see that they do workshops with
kids just like us and this attack felt very personal.”
Davis emphasises the personal connection the theatre community feels with The Freedom
Theatre, drawing parallels between their work and the struggles faced during apartheid in South Africa.
She underscores the power of theatre as a tool for highlighting oppression, referencing the effective work of Barney Simon and his theatre company at the Market Theatre during apartheid.
“If you think of the impact of the work Barney Simon was making with his theatre company at the Market Theatre and how those works travelled to tell the world what was happening in South Africa. So theatre in particular is a powerfully embodied tool to highlight oppression.”
She said the strength of theatre lies in its ability to embody and communicate shared human experiences and plays a vital role in challenging societal inequalities.
Responding to sceptics who question the efficacy of a letter in the face of the
brutality experienced by the Palestinian people, Davis says as theatre communities around the world join in sharing letters of support, it becomes a collective voice against injustice.
“Someone said to me, ‘What’s a letter going to do against the brutality Palestinian people are facing’, and a part of me felt hopeless but I saw other theatre communities from other parts of the world sharing letters as well and that made me feel that if I was in their position, that would give me strength.
“They must be feeling very alone right now and to hear that there are people sharing
in their struggle and are supportive of them [must help].”
The letter is still open and any South African theatre practitioner can contact Kyla Davis on [email protected] if they wish to add their signature.
Kyla Davis, Artistic Director, Well Worn Theatre Company
Mxolisi Masilela, Artistic Director, The Tx Theatre
Lindiwe Matshikiza, Multidisciplinary Artist, Motherbox
Sara Matchett, Artistic Director, The Mothertongue Project
Neil Coppen, Co- Founder, Director, Empatheatre
Dylan McGarry, Co Founder/Director, Empatheatre
Andrew Buckland, Performer, Mouthpeace Theatre
Mike van Graan, Playwright/Producer, MVG
William le Cordeur, Director, Lidgetton Theatre Company
Bobby Rodwell, Theatre Producer, mehlo.maya (eye-to-the-sun)
iain ewok robinson, Hip Hop Theatremaker, Amehlo Productions
Tauriq Jenkins, Artistic Director/ Actor, Independent Theatre Movement of South
Africa
Allan Kolski Horwitz, Director, Botsotso Ensemble
Yvette Hardie, Director/Producer
Mongi Mthombeni, Writer/Director
Nokuthula Mabuza, Producer
Daniel Buckland, Performer/Director/Teacher
Roberto Pombo, Theatremaker
Mlindeli Zondi, Director/Facilitator/Performer
Alex Sutherland, Performance Activist
Joni Barnard, Theatremaker
Vincent Meyburgh, Director/Artist
Janet Buckland, Director
Gerard Bester, Theatremaker
Hayleigh Evans, Theatremaker
Amrain Ismail Essop, Actor
Tebogo Machaba, Theatre Practitioner
Craig Morris, Theatre Practitioner
Maude Sandham, Actress, Intimacy Coordinator, Theatremaker
Elizabeth de Kock, Performer
Denel Honeyball, Theatre practitioner
Megan Choritz , Theatremaker
Athena Mazarakis, Choreographer/Performer/Theatremaker/ Arts Educator
Danieyella Rodin, Theatremaker/Performer/Drama Therapist
Gita Pather, Arts Manager
Jenni-lee Crewe, Educator/Designer
David Mann, Writer/Critic
Alan Parker, Choreographer
Rucera Seethal, Artistic Director
Pule Welch, Theatremaker/Performer/Researcher
Tamara Schulz, Playwright, theatre-maker
Carla Lever, Theatre and Performance academic
Faye Kabali-Kagwa, Cultural Curator, Arts Coordinator
Margaret Auerbach, Puppeteer
Ralph Yarrow
Dara Beth, Writer, Director, Theatremaker, Facilitator