Based in the Jenin Refugee Camp in occupied Palestine, Freedom Theatre is to visit Birmingham REP as part of its first tour of the UK with The Siege.
Inspired by the true story of a group of Palestinian fighters, The Siege is set in the spring of April 2002 in Bethlehem. A group of armed men seek sanctuary in the Church of the Nativity, one of the world’s holiest sites, as the Israeli army closes in.
Along with the fighters are some 200 priests, nuns and civilians. The siege lasts for 39 days, paralysing the centre of Bethlehem. While the world is watching, the fighters are faced with the question of whether to struggle to the end or to surrender. No matter what they choose, they will have to leave their families and their homeland.
The Siege has been developed and devised by Freedom Theatre actors, an ensemble who use culture as a form of resistance and who have grown up during the Second Intifada and lived under occupation their whole lives.
It is directed by Freedom Theatre’s artistic director Nabil Al-Raee and associate director Zoe Lafferty. They previously collaborated on Shok Man?, a production that opened in Jenin and went on to tour to Germany, France, Switzerland and Austria.
The Siege runs in The Door at Birmingham REP from Thursday 4 until Saturday 6 June.