'Our memories have vanished': the Palestinian theatre destroyed in a bomb strike
The Said al-Mishal
Centre brought theatre, dance and music to the beleaguered residents of Gaza
City. Its destruction in an Israeli air strike last week has sparked outrage –
and dealt a heavy blow to Palestinian culture. Can the show go on? It was the deep panic
of the last-minute rush known to everyone involved in theatre.
One of the playhouse’s
top directors, a precocious 27-year-old who had been working in theatre since
he was a teenager, was preparing his latest production – a dark comedy. Stage
crew and actors had been working for months, all leading up to the Eid al-Adha performance,
one of the biggest productions of the year timed for the Islamic holiday
period. The show was to be
held in Gaza City’s
premier auditorium, the Said al-Mishal Cultural Centre, where the audience
could relax into red fabric seats for a night of escapism. On 9 August, the
show’s final decorations were being hoisted.
Outside, in the early
evening sun, people in the Mediterranean city was winding down for the weekend.
Many were hoping for an end to a 24-hour flare-up in which the militant
group Hamas had fired volleys of rockets into Israel, which had
responded with airstrikes. The Palestinian
director, Idrees Taleb, was focused on the preparations for the play, not on
the jets in the skies. His office had been on the fourth floor of Al-Mishal for
half a decade, and he saw no reason why the Israeli military would bomb a
theatre. “During wars, I would
leave my house and sleep at the building,” he says. “I always thought it’s the
safest place in the world.”.. read more:
