What’s the best business you can establish in Gaza?
Hajja Souad has survived decades of wars, displacement and oppression by making and selling shrouds for burying the dead. It’s the one item that is always in demand. As her past returns to haunt her she is forced to make a big decision. But first she tells us a harrowing story of courage, love, and escape that takes us on the journey of her life from Aqqur through Jerusalem and Hebron to her workshop in Gaza. Along the way we learn much about Palestine-Israel history.
In this compelling and moving black comedy inspired by a real-life character in Gaza, Palestinian writer Ahmed Masoud from Gaza weaves comic fantasy and satire with true stories to create a vivid portrait of Palestinian life in Gaza – before the most recent heartbreaking events.
This production was first presented in 2018 at @70 – A Celebration of Contemporary Palestinian Culture in London, and has since been given a number of performances around the UK. This is its Fringe premiere.
Writer Ahmed Masoud is from Gaza and now based in the UK. He is the author of the acclaimed novels, Vanished and Come What May. His theatre credits include Camouflage (London 2017), Walaa, Loyalty (London 2014, funded by Arts Council England), Go to Gaza, Drink the Sea (London & Edinburgh 2009) and Escape from Gaza (BBC Radio4, 2011). He was the writer behind the ‘cancellation’ of Obliterated with Maxime Peake, a theatrical stunt to highlight the destruction by Israel’s bombing of the only theatre in Gaza. www.ahmedmasoud.co.uk
Writer Ahmed Masoud explains “The Shroud Maker is a black comedy about the situation in Palestine, highlighting the humanity of the people, their sense of humour and their great instinct for survival.
The Palestinian narrative is often presented through the small lens of politics without reference to the vibrant culture rooted in the people’s history and memories. What is happening in Gaza right now is an example of how people fail to understand the deep human story which expands to centuries on this land. The Shroud Maker addresses these issues through the personal narrative of a woman trying to survive decades of war by making shrouds for the dead, shrewdly realising that this is a good business to have in a land of conflict. Hajja Souad’s story provides both comedy and deep trauma.”
The Shroud Maker is one personal narrative amongst thousands of Palestinian stories of those who have been displaced from their own homes – including Ahmed’s own family history.
The Shroud Maker is performed by Julia Tarnoky. Julia’s critically acclaimed roles include Sylvia Plath in Sylvia directed by Ralph Fiennes, Helen in Corryvreckan (for which she won the LFA Best Actress Award), extensive credits with Howard Barker and The Wrestling School, Deborah in A Kind of Alaska, Ruth Holderness in Bridlington, and Tyu in Reema Sengupta’s Tyu’s Company, an award-winning short selected for 9 international film festivals.
