IMEU Institute for Middle East Understanding
Art
Even in the arts, it can be rare to see Palestinian stories and identities shared, especially with mainstream audiences. THE VAGRANT TRILOGY, a three-part play by award-winning playwright Mona Mansour, offers just that. Opening in March at The Public Theater in New York City, the play is about Palestinian displacement set in the context of the 1967 Six-Day War.
on February 12, 2020
News Roundup
Last week marked a momentous cultural occasion: the entrance of a Palestinian theater company onto the New York stage, performing a Palestinian work that hinges on the voices and political perspectives of Palestinian people. After two previously planned but ultimately scrapped local productions of the play, The Siege is finally celebrating its first run in the city.
on October 19, 2017
Op-Eds & Analysis
My family and I were saddened on Thursday morning to learn of the death of Alan Rickman – too sad to write our feelings at the time. Alan, of course, is famous as an actor and director, both on stage and in film. But we first came to know him when, with Katharine Viner (now editor-in-chief of the Guardian), he edited our daughter Rachel’s writing into the play My Name is Rachel Corrie.
on January 18, 2016
News Roundup
The Palestinian National Theatre “Al Hakawati” published today an appeal to Jerusalem institutions and businessmen in the city to save the theatre from closure during the next 48 hours. According to the theatre’s statement, director Amer Khalil, received a phone call on Thursday morning 11/26/2015 from the Israeli Enforcement and Collection Authority (ECA), responsible for debt collection and law enforcement, notifying him of the intention to complete the seizure of the theatre building in 48 hours.
on November 27, 2015
News Roundup
Under the name El-Funoun Palestinian Popular Dance Troupe, Mohammad Yaacoub and friends Mohammed Atta and Wassim al-Kurdi embarked on a journey of interpreting Palestinian folk songs accompanied by dance and dabke (Levantine Arab folk dance) shows with the objective of preserving Palestinian heritage and folklore.
on June 10, 2015
News Roundup
Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett announced on Tuesday that he has decided to cut state funding for a play by a Palestinian theater in Haifa about a militant who killed an Israeli soldier. "I've ordered the relevant people in the education ministry to immediately remove the play from the culture basket," he said of the state-funded selection of cultural events intended for youths.
on June 10, 2015
News Roundup
A play about American activist Rachel Corrie, who was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza, is winning quiet acceptance in New York, where uproar postponed its debut a decade ago. Her parents and the play's director say the dimming controversy reflects a shift in American attitudes towards Israel and the Palestinian conflict.
on April 8, 2015
News Roundup
This month, the compelling and controversial play, My Name is Rachel Corrie, returns to New York City for the first time in nine years. The show will star Charlotte Hemmings as Rachel Corrie and will be directed by Jonathan Kane. This special limited run will take place at Culture Project's Lynn Redgrave Theater (45 Bleeker Street), running from tonight, April 2 through April 12.
on April 2, 2015
News Roundup
Three plays by major contemporary Palestinian playwrights will be performed as staged readings on consecutive nights in New York this month, under the title “Permission to Narrate.” Hosted by Columbia University’s Center for Palestine Studies and curated by playwright and poet Ismail Khalidi, the plays...
on March 16, 2015