Murkus laat zich inspireren door een schilderij van de Palestijnse kunstenaar Suleiman Mansour, Jamal Al Mahamel, waarop een man de stad Jeruzalem op zijn rug draagt. Hoeveel kan een mens dragen? Waar ligt het breekpunt? Wanneer verandert de strijd tegen vernietiging in een daad van vernietiging?
Met een Palestijnse cast brengt DEADLIFT een poëtisch eerbetoon aan de veerkracht van mensen in nood. De muziek werd In Palestina gecomponeerd door Wouter de Belder.
Al-Harah Theater zet zich in voor het opbouwen en behouden van een samenleving waarin mensenrechten, democratie en vrijheid van meningsuiting centraal staan. Boy Jonkergouw Producties creëert, produceert en presenteert culturele uitingen en educatieve programma’s gericht op mensenrechten en sociale rechtvaardigheid.
Een randprogramma bij de voorstelling wordt gerealiseerd door vredesorganisatie PAX en Podium LUX.
a word from the director
It is impossible to write a synopsis for this performance. It simply cannot be done.
I write these words as Bashar Murkus, the creator of this work, after being commissioned by Al-Harah Theater, in partnership with Boy Jonkergouw Producties, with a remarkable mission: to create a theatrical piece in dialogue with the works of Palestinian painter Suleiman Mansour, one of Palestine’s most prominent artists and the creator of its most enduring symbols. I was to begin with his painting Camel of Burdens - a portrait of a porter carrying an entire city on his back.
No sooner had I agreed to the project than the genocide committed by the Israeli occupation against Gaza erupted once again, and it continues unabated as I write these words. What city do we carry in this performance, when our cities are being erased and our souls collapse with them? How can we embody a porter who endures the burden while our people die and we stand by, merely watching?
In this visual performance, I place my outcry, my shame, my fear, and my questions. This may not make for a perfect synopsis, but it has made for a performance bristling with questions - testing the limits of the human body’s endurance, and trying, from a heap of rubble, to piece together questions about the future. Not only the future of Palestine.
What does the rubble teach us?
English
New York, Avignon, Dublin: the intense, often cinematic theatre work of Palestinian director Bashar Murkus has a global impact. His new performance, DEADLIFT, is a unique collaboration between the Palestinian theatre company Al-Harah from Palestine and Boy Jonkergouw Producties from the Netherlands.
Murkus draws inspiration from a painting by Palestinian painter Suleiman Mansour, Jamal Al Mahamel, which depicts a man carrying an entire city (Jerusalem) on his back. In DEADLIFT, Murkus explores how much a person can bear. Where is the breaking point? When does the struggle against destruction turn into an act of destruction? Featuring a Palestinian cast of performers, DEADLIFT presents a poetic tribute to the resilience of people in distress.
The composer for this play, Wouter de Belder, rehearsed for this visual performance with Al-Harah Theatre in Beit Jala, Palestine.
Al-Harah is dedicated to building and maintaining a society that emphasizes human rights, democracy, and freedom of expression. Boy Jonkergouw Producties, creates, produces and presents cultural expressions and educational programs focused on human rights and social justice.
A contextual side program to the show will be presented by PAX Peace Organization, Podium LUX and Amnesty International.
