Palestine Theatre Project 2018

To fund a theatre production at the Alrowwad Centre in the Aida Refugee Camp in Bethlehem, Palestine, specifically of the play 'Where the Streets had a Name', in 2018, and to provide the Centre with permanent staging,lighting and sound equipment. The play is a theatre adaptation of the novel of the same name, and was very successfully produced in Sydney by the Monkey Baa Theatre Company, devised and directed by Eva Di Cesare. The production in Bethlehem will be cast from young people in the Aida Refugee Camp, produced by the camp's Alrowwad Theatre and Culture Centre, and directed by Ray Goodlass, a retired Australian university senior lecturer and theatre director, who has worked on theatre/drama projects at Alrowwad on two previous occasions, and who has made five previous trips as a volunteer to Palestine. The audience will be Aida Refugee Camp residents and members of the wider Bethlehem and region community. Performances will ber free, so as to make the production as accessible as possible. An important part of the project is its lasting benefits. The cast, designers and stage crew will learn theatre skills of permanent value, and the Alrowwad Centre will gain a permanent stock of theatre lighting, sound equipment and a portable stage, all of which could be used by others in the Aida Refugee Camp and wider Bethlehem region.

As well as staging 'Where the streets had a name', this will also be a cross-cultural film project. As part of Friends of Alrowwad Australia, a team under the leadership of Sara Aurorae will be filming the play and the experiences over those weeks into a documentary and it will be submitted into documentary film festivals in both Australia and internationally. The mission is to discover the meaning of Beautiful Resistance, to showcase the outstanding work done at Alrowwad and to promote peace. It will bring diversity, provide a platform to enable a public forum and further discussions, to educate and above all to be memorable. It is to show the heart of love in the Occupied Territories. It will also include footage by students from the centre.

Budget:

License/Royalties $1,000.00
Lighting equiptment $5,000.00
Sound equipment $4,000.00
Flat pack pop up stage (Danmole) $10,000.00
Material for costumes, also hire $500.00
Properties $ 500.00
Make up and sundries $ 500.00
Contribution to aifares (for two) $4,000.00 Contribution to accommodation $4,000.00 Contingency $ 500.00
Total $30,000.00