Fundraiser screening of At Home in Gaza and London

In 2016 a group of artistic collaborators in Gaza and London began a series of digital workshops as an alternative means to defy the blockade. 

Out of the exchanges emerged a theatre piece where they appear together in a single space shared by audiences in both cities. The last live performances were in July 2018, connecting El Wedad Theatre with Battersea Arts Centre and the Liverpool Arab Arts Festival.

At Home in Gaza and London follows the lives of people living in two locations separated by great political, economic, and physical divides. By using a mix of live-streaming and recorded video, a single performance space is created where artists work together. They occupy each other’s homes, streets and other social spaces. Sharing their everyday behaviour and concerns, as they dissolve into each other or become ghostly protagonists in the drama. 

Many of the collaborators in the production are still living in Gaza. They have lost family members, friends, colleagues, and homes. One of them, Ayah Abdulrahman died of cancer in 2019, having received intermittent yet insufficient treatment due to the blockade on Gaza. All of the studios and theatres we worked in have been destroyed. 

We will share messages from the Gazan team and will try to connect to those we can live. 

All ticket sales will go towards our collaborators who are trying to survive unimaginable circumstances. Disabled dancer Walid Tafesh is currently leading one of the few workshop programmes for children in Jabalia, North Gaza. 

Station House Opera

• Co-directed by Julian Maynard Smith & Taghrid Choucair-Vizoso
• Co-devised and performed by: Ayah Abdelrahman, Abeer Ahmed, Tara Fatehi Irani, Ali Al-Hassany, Yoko Ishiguro, Mariam Nasser, Hamza Saftawi, Walid Tafesh and Owl Young. Assistant Directors: Ebaa Rezeq and Amjad Shabat 
• Technical Director: Matthew Wasser
• Technicians: Alex Hewitt, Paul Thomas, Mohammed AlGhoul, Mohammed Salem
• Sound Designer: Enrico Aurigemma
• Lighting Designer: Alastair Armstrong
• Stage Manager: Sophia Tuffin
• Produced by Ania Obolewicz for Artsadmin

The journey has been supported by: Arts Council England, Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, Qattan Foundation, Battersea Arts Centre, Gaza Sky Geeks, Fusion, LIFT, Arab British Centre, Watermans. 

With thanks to producers Victoria Lupton and Aimee Shalan (Pressure Cooker Arts), Yasmeen El Khoudary, Najlaa Atallah, and Hani Murtaja.