Rehearsing Freedom

In 2006, a freedom fighter, an actor, a nurse, and a musician came together to set up a theatre in the midst of Jenin Refugee Camp in occupied Palestine. Called the Freedom Theatre, it was created at a time when the camp was still recovering from the devastating battle of Jenin unleashed by Israel during the second Intifada. A decade later, despite the assassination of one of its founders, despite numerous of its people being arrested, despite physical attacks, despite threats and harassment, The Freedom Theatre is today one of the most vital members of the Palestine cultural resistance movement for liberation and regeneration. In the process, The Freedom Theatre has earned a reputation internationally for its stylistically and politically path-breaking theatre and media productions.

This book presents, for the first time, the story of The Freedom Theatre in its own voice, through rare archival photographs and text. This volume is a precious record of multifarious challenges facing the cultural resistance in Palestine, and the ability of a group of determined people to undertake creation under occupation.