IMAN AOUN & YASMIN SAMEER

INTERVIEW WITH IMAN AOUN AND YASMIN SAMEER

If Ariadne’s mission is to create a network of women theatre-makers ‘working in challenging societies to inspire social change’ then Iman and Yasmin are still very much in the heart of that challenge. In this conversation, the two Palestinian theatre-makers reflect on living in an occupied society and where every act of theatre, every artistic endeavour is a political act of will, freedom of expression, and a defiance against conditions that attempt to dehumanise. Iman’s long career as a professional actor and director has taken her around the world, as one of the early members of El-Hakawati Theatre and then going on to found Ashtar Theatre Company with her partner, Edward Muallam in 1991. Ashtar are now a predominant player in Palestinian Theatre, not just for the eclectic range of shows they produce, but also for their international touring and collaborations, and a thriving theatre academy that offers drama school training for young performers.

This interview was the longest one that we took, and probably could have easily lasted a few more hours. The conversation was intense and impassioned, with Iman and Yasmin responding to their sense of whether theatre and art could help the Palestinian cause, and why collaborating with Israeli theatre companies was not conceivable for them at the current time. We also reflected on Ashtar’s celebration of the work of Augusto Boal and how the lexicon of Theatre of the Oppressed had special resonance for them in the Palestinian context.

PALESTINE PERFORMANCE

This performance was inflected with warmth and bubbled through with humour, despite the serious contents of the testimonies contained in this performance from Palestine. The play comprised three interleaved personal stories from George, Julia and Um Imad, elders from Palestine who had lived through the termination of the British Mandate of Palestine, the ensuing Arab-Israeli war, and the huge displacement of people that culminated in the partition and bifurcation of the country in the latter part of the twentieth century. A mix of ages, the performers, Iman Aoun, Yasmin Sameer and Jack Parker, worked as a close unit to give credence and emphasis to the stories being shared between the three, playing the separate testimonies as a reflective conversation between old friends. The audience really engaged with the detail of courtship, recollections of youth and the elders’ distaste for modern technology, which were in parallel with the testimonies performed from the UK elders. Iman’s use of video and projected image to bring context and reference points brought the human stories closer to the audience’s comprehension, seeing ordinary family life surviving through the catastrophic historical events.