“Powerful. Important. Moving.” Ben Jamal (Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign)
A collection of short political plays in response to warnings that artists shouldn’t be political.
We are living through a moment of horror. Brutality abroad in Palestine and the Global South is justified or ignored by our own government, while new police powers suppress protest at home. Globally far-right movements are growing and so too are Defence budgets. There is much to talk about.
Even the Arts Council started warning that ‘political statements’ made by individuals linked to an organisation can cause ‘reputational risk’, breaching funding agreements. Some are silenced; some are unwilling to speak.
This updated production – with two brand new commissions – returns to the Arcola after a sell out rapid response earlier this year. Playwrights include Hassan Abdulrazzak, Mojisola Adebayo, Phil Arditti, Sonali Bhattacharyya, Nina Bowers, Roxy Cook, Ed Edwards, Afsaneh Gray, Dawn King, Ahmed Masoud, Sami Abu Wardeh, Waleed Elgadi, Joel Samuels and lastly a devised piece inspired by an idea from Nina Segal.
Post-Show Talk Panellists and Workshops.
Tuesday 26th November
Thomas Suarez (Historical Researcher & violinist, ex-West Bank resident & Author of “Palestine Hijacked: How Zionism forged and Apartheid State from river to sea”)
Alia Malak (PACBI Palestinian Campaign for Academic and Cultural Boycott)
Wednesday 27th November
Barnaby Raine (PhD and teaching at Columbia University, and Organiser of Jewish solidarity with Palestine)
Zena Agha (Palestinian-Iraqi Writer, Artist + Poet, formally Al Shabaka policy fellow)
Thursday 28th November
Aimee Shalan (Director of MAKAN Rights and former CEO of MAP)
Dr Adam Elliot-Cooper (BLM, Queen Mary University, author of Black Resistance to British Policing and co author of Empires Endgame: Racism and the British state)
Friday 29th November
Rania Hafez, (Lebanese Associate Professor of Education at the University of Greenwich, published on education, religion, class, and identity)
Andrew Feinstein (Former ANC member of Parliament, South Africa)
Ahmed Masoud (Gazan playwright and novelist)
Saturday 30th November
Dr Rafeef Ziadah (Lebanese/
Haim Bresheeth (Ex-Israeli filmmaker)
Monday 2nd December
Hamza Yusuf (Palestinian Journalist for Declassifed UK, featured in Mondoweiss, Tribune Magazine and New Internationalist)
Dr Eva Kahir (British-Sudanese Doctor and Political advisor)
Tuesday 3rd December
Ben Jamal ( Director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign),
Abdelfattah Abusrour (Director of Alrowwad Cultural and Arts Centre in Aida refugee camp Bethlehem)
Wednesday 4th December
Asil Sidahmed (Strategic Advisor to Minister of Health in Sudan’s transitional Government),
Selma Dabbagh (British-
Thursday 5th December
Yasmin Ashraf (Palestinian Youth Movement, Britain)
Hassan Mahamdallie – (Director of the Muslim Institute and senior editor of its journal Critical Muslim. He is an author, playwright and theatre director. Formerly a senior policy officer at Arts Council England.)
Joel Samuels – (playwright, actor and activist. Co-Artistic Director of Bet’n Lev Theatre. Involved in pro-Palestine activism for over 20 years and spent time as an activist in Hebron (Al-Khalil) in the West Bank.)
Friday 6th December
Mohammed Elnaiem (Activist and Director of the Decolonial Centre)
Taghrid Choucair-Vizoso (climate cultural worker, artist, facilitator, activist from South Lebanon. Member of Equity’s International Solidarity Committee)
Praise for Cutting the Tightrope: The Divorce of Politics from Art:
★★★★★ “With its unflinching gaze and unrelenting energy, Cutting the Tightrope: The Divorce of Politics from Art is an unmissable triumph that demands to be seen. It is a bold reminder that art, when allowed to speak freely, has the power to provoke, to heal, to create a current in the waters of an otherwise stagnated and, oftentimes, corrupt world” – Plays to See
★★★★★ “An outstandingly well-written collection of short plays that interrogate political censorship within British theatre and beyond. … it interrogates censorship within the arts with unapologetic anger, laying bare the problems that exist for staging political plays in the current industry….Unmissable!” – Everything Theatre
★★★★★ “A bold & powerful protest play presentation on exploring the impact of censoring the Palestine genocide in the art space” – London Fringe Theatre Reviews
★★★★★ “Powerful and rousing” – Fairy Powered Productions
★★★★★ “One of the most powerful things I have ever watched” – Green Room Review
★★★★ “I left the theatre, after a raw and vulnerable post-show discussion (as happens after every performance), thinking, ‘what is the point of theatre, if not this?’. Hats off to the vision, grit and determination of the whole team to use the arts and culture as a true platform for political change” – A Youngish Perspective
★★★★ “What theatre should be in times of crisis like this. Fiery, fierce, and fearlessly political” – BroadwayWorld
★★★★ “At times grim, at times almost unbearable, but essential, unflinching and powerful – this is an urgent and energising evening… And the best pieces here manage the difficult balancing act of combining political commitment with lightness of touch, humour and irony” – The Peg
“Cutting the Tightrope should be seen by everyone” – British Theatre Guide
“If you do anything this week, I implore you to visit the Arcola Theatre and watch Cutting the Tightrope: The Divorce of Politics from Art.” – Live Review
“An extraordinary theatrical and humanitarian endeavour” – There Ought To Be Clowns
“The courage of the pieces are infectious. We left the theatre fired up for the fight.” – Dame Harriet Walter (DBE, Actor)
“An opinionated, entertaining and urgent evening” – The Guardian
