A tale of old Jerusalem…

It’s 1936, in
Jerusalem. One, two, three, 4… depend until you attain store quantity 5,
Damascus Gate. Above the store hangs an enormous signal that reads: Zaatara Cafe. اضافة اعلان

That is the
setting for a play just lately carried out in Amman, written and carried out by actor
Hussam Abu Eisheh and directed by Kamel Al-Basha.

“Zaatara Cafe” is
a monodrama that brings to life 40 years of smart, profane, deeply shifting
tales and vigorous characters in a miniature model of town of Jerusalem.

The efficiency
derives its title from the most important cafe within the Previous Metropolis of Jerusalem, located
close to Damascus Gate. The cafe was owned by Khalil Zaatara, who was compelled to
shut it down in 1979 after the Israeli occupation forcibly deported him to
Jordan. In a single day, the cafe was became youngsters’s toy retailer.

The play was
carried out at Darat Al Funun in Amman on October 29 beneath the open sky, surrounded
by archeological ruins. It served as a gap for Darat Al Funun’s program
“Collections and Archives”, which accompanies the twin exhibition “Topography
of Place — Palestine and Jordan, Homage to Dr Hisham Al Khatib” and “Revisiting
Darat al Funun’s Essential Constructing: Story, Historical past, and Restoration”, at present
open to the general public by means of the top of January 2023.

A private story
The primary actor Abu Eisheh is a famend artist and one of many founders
of a well-liked people theater in occupied Jerusalem. He has made a number of
contributions to movie, tv, theater, and radio, together with “Alive from
Palestine: Tales beneath Occupation”, “First of Could”, “Spartacus” and “Return
to Haifa”, amongst others.

The efficiency
is a story of Zaatara Cafe, seen by means of the eyes of Saleh Abu Eisheh, the
father of the play’s author and a restaurant waiter who was displaced from town
of Lod.

Saleh labored at
Zaatara and acted as some extent of connection between numerous common prospects
from across the metropolis, together with politicians, intellectuals, teachers,
retailers, tribal elders, and different key figures. The play displays the journey
of the cafe and town as a complete, from 1938 till Zaatara closed within the late
seventies.

In a way, the
play is a densely textured memoir-in-fragments as Abu Eisheh recounts occasions he
witnessed and lived by means of together with his father. With its inspiration coming from
the actor’s private historical past, the efficiency blurs the strains between fantasy
and actuality, dreaming and waking.

The important area
of the cafe
Over the span of
70 minutes, Abu Eisheh covers a variety of versatile characters, 21 in
quantity, six of them girls. The folks he presents come from totally different social
lessons in Jerusalem society. There’s a physician, a service provider, a plumber, an
Israeli intelligence officer, a faculty administrator, a neighbor, and extra.

The play explores
the importance of the historic cafes within the Previous Metropolis — how they served as a
microcosm of society with all its lessons and their political, social, and
cultural function in nationwide conflicts and burdens.

The play additionally
highlights the Palestinian folks’s struggles in opposition to the British Mandate and
Israeli occupation and the way the intimacy and social vitality of cafes was a
thorn within the facet of occupiers. Even the most straightforward, on a regular basis rituals of
existence might undermine the system Israel was trying to place in place, and
its efforts to suffocate the traditions of the Palestinians.

The delicate
coexistence of Muslims and Christians within the metropolis, in addition to their affection,
tolerance, and familiarity with each other within the face of their widespread
resistance of the occupation, is one other recurring theme of the play.

In distinction to
most monodrama performances that compensate for the absence of a number of actors
with audio and visible methods, Abu Eisheh offered his efficiency with out
music or creative results, utilizing restricted props: a desk, a chair, a hookah, a
bag, and a few fabric. The simplicity of the stage positioned the primary emotional
give attention to the narrative.

Reliving the story
of Jerusalem
The play’s writing foregrounds the act of telling and ruminating on
intentions, expressing undeveloped impulses, fears, or yearnings in clear,
logical prose. 

Whereas “Zaatara
Cafe” is deeply significant on the degrees of efficiency, content material, and textual content, it
is Abu Eisheh’s dazzling theatrical efficiency that accomplishes the fragile
stability between numb and uncooked. The spectrum of feelings spans from mirth to
grief, mourning, and laughter once more. Whereas we now have seen Jerusalem 1000’s of
occasions on display screen, we could not have heard tales from the center of the traditional metropolis
in the best way Abu Eisheh tells them.

Because it was
first produced, “Zaatara Cafe” has obtained a number of awards in regional
festivals such because the Fujairah Worldwide Arts Competition and the Carthage
Worldwide Monodrama Competition in Tunisia.

Luma Hamdan,
Darat al Funun’s director, stated the selection of the efficiency to kick off the
“Collections and Archives” program was cautious and deliberate, as it’s based mostly
on a real story of Palestinian life. “Via his relations and interactions,
we get to relive the story of Jerusalem throughout that interval,” she defined.

“The play affords
a novel method to utilizing archives in a dramatic and stay setup that’s
partaking to the viewers and on the identical time, eye opening to how historical past might
be revisited and offered,” she advised Jordan Information.

On stage, the tales and
pains of the Palestinians are poignant, every story incomes applause with
coronary heart wrenching subtlety and artwork.

Learn extra Property
Jordan Information