Updated 30th July – Maxine Peake and Palestinian writer Ahmed Masoud have cancelled their upcoming play Obliterated.
Ahmed Masoud said: Obliterated is cancelled. There was never a play or a show, I didn’t write it and Maxine never rehearsed it. I am not sure whether I will be able to write or do theatre again. They took our theatre, and with it our play. Not even a year ago, on 09 August 2018, Gaza’s only theatre the Saeed Almishal Cultural Centre was bombed by Israeli warplanes and ripped to the ground in seconds.
A theatre turned to fire, rubble and dust. Expression lost to hate, for nothing sane. I want to ask questions. Why is art so threatening? Who would find a theatre a danger enough for missiles? What’s going to become of the creatives, actors, writers, directors and audiences now?
I cannot write, but I still want to protest, to make my voice heard, to highlight what happens when art and theatre are stolen away. Maxine and I want to invite you, the audience, the 2529 people who booked, to be part of this experience, to be angry at this injustice. As a writer and theatre practitioner, I wanted to see how it feels to deny people access to this freedom.
I approached Maxine Peake, and together we created Obliterated to express our rage and for us all to participate in this experience of cultural theft. Here’s what she has to say, in conversation with Palestinian poet Farah Chamma: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhIk1izx6mg&feature=youtu.be Please feel free to add your comments directly on the video.
I am not sure whether I will ever do theatre again. I am not sure if I have been beaten down too far by cruelty. Maybe on a far-off day, this play will be born again. But for now, I would like to thank Maxine Peake and Amnesty International UK for supporting this creative response. And I want to thank you for being part of this protest, for getting my voice heard.
There’s currently a separate campaign running to support the theatre, you can learn more about it here and pledge your support if you wish too.
To those who visited the Saeed Almishal Cultural Centre, please remember it. To those who didn’t, please imagine it.
The original story published 21st June 2019:
Obliterated is a new drama by Palestinian writer Ahmed Masoud, to be performed by Maxine Peake on 9th August 2019 at Amnesty International UK in Hackney. It explores the complexity of a society that has lived under siege for over a decade, delving deep into humanity’s most urgent social and political challenges with darkly satirical humour.
What happens when your life turns upside down? How do you deal with a partner who has disappeared? Where do you start looking?
Amanda McHugh is a British lawyer living in Slough with her husband Naseem who goes missing as he embarks on a journey to visit his family back home in the Gaza Strip.
Having lost faith in the British Foreign Office, Amanda decides to undertake the perilous journey to Palestine and find her husband herself, a voyage that takes her through the ISIS-threatened Sinai Desert to enter Hamas-controlled Gaza through the Rafah Border Crossing with Egypt.
Having failed to get out of Gaza through the Erez Crossing because of the Israeli siege on The Strip, Amanda finds herself stuck in Gaza and unable to return home until the Rafah Crossing opens once more. While there, she uncovers a dark secret which haunts Naseem’s past.
For many British citizens who are married to Palestinians from Gaza, the idea of going to the Strip and spending time with family is out of the question given the closure of borders. However, Amanda faces these challenges with gallows of bravery and bittersweet moments.
The production is designed by Clio Capelle and sponsored by Amnesty International UK and will be followed with a Q&A with the creative team chaired by the renowned journalist Ben White.
Masoud described the production as a “journey to the abyss of humanity, where normal life becomes entangled with political complexities. Yet the reality of people, their humour, their kindness, hopefulness and determination make you forget all the darkness around”
Maxine said “I am pleased to be performing a play which takes the audience somewhere they can’t often go to, a place in the world often on the news for the wrong reason. Obliterated brings this place to life with complexities that you find in any place”
