Announcing the 2nd placed plays - Intercultural Remote Theatre Competition 2023
‘A Passport for what' was written by Benjamin Zephaniah and is published in 'Doing Remote Theatre' by the Hands up Project. This version was acted remotely by Maysoon Awni Shabat and Tasneem Jamil Qasem in Gaza, Palestine and by Maya Belletti and Alessia Artuso in Italy. It was directed remotely by their teachers - Heba Hamouda in Gaza and Christine Macri in Italy.
A comment from one of the judges:
“I loved the way this was acted, especially how the girls handled the different languages. The final (and key) message was also beautifully emphasized at the end . The actors combined so well and the singing added extra emotional involvement.
The ‘arc’ of the story was very impressive. When the traveller explained her family name (‘Being’) and then her first name (‘Human’) it was lovely and unexpected. The ‘bird’ and the passport were a great way to end the story, and to make the message very clear”
'The Screen' was written by Nick Bilbrough and is published in 'Doing Remote Theatre' by the Hands up Project. This version was acted remotely by Nada in Gaza, Palestine and Una in Serbia. It was directed remotely by their teachers - Amal Mukheriez in Gaza and Irina Spasojevic in Serbia.
A comment from one of the judges:
“Wow, this was the first of the plays that I looked at, and if they all have this quality, it will be a difficult choice to make! I was drawn in right from the (disturbing) start: ‘Is there anybody out there?’. I was struck by the simple but very effective layout, with one actor on one screen, one on the other, looking at the centre – looking at each other, or at me? This really pulled the viewer into the interaction. I love mystery stories, and I really wanted to know what would happen at the end.”
'Lemon and Mint' was written by Nick Bilbrough and is published in 'Doing Remote Theatre' by the Hands up Project. This version was acted remotely by Rahaf Al Athamna, Omnia Al-Sawarka and Fatima Al-Zahraa' Adwan in Gaza, Palestine and by Jasnamah Kaur and Aryan Sigh in India. It was directed remotely by their teachers - Fawzia Qasem in Gaza and Amanpreet Kaur in India. I
A comment from one of the judges:
“I'm amazed by the incredible range of lockdown/remote/intercultural theatre devices being explored and pushed beyond limits. Particularly effective are: sounds and voices off, stylised movement and use of props, numerous changes of settings. These could have got in the way of the message of the play but they're used so effectively that they simply enhanced the clearly told story. It's like a kind of live interactive, immersive and sensory cinema-theatre-storytelling experience!”
'The Guitar' was written by JJ Wilson and is published in 'Doing Remote Theatre' by the Hands up Project. This version was acted remotely by Sama Ismail, Tia Al Haytham, and Sama Ayesh from Beach Elementary Co-ed school C in Gaza, Palestine and by Annielys Fransheska Rosal Gutierrez and Jeanny Maxiudith Vera Pérez from English for Kids school in Venezuela. It was directed remotely by their teachers - Luzan Mattar in Gaza and Reina Ruiz in Venezuela.
A comment from one of the judges:
“I liked the acting from the outset, from when the guitar string breaks! One thing that really impressed me about this mini-play was the way that the actors played roles ‘across’ the contexts. By this I mean that some of the ‘helpers’ were from Gaza, some from another place in the world, and all working together to try to find a solution to Ahmed’s problem. I thought that this was a lovely, and a true, message – we can (and must) all help each other, no matter where we live. So I think the actors must have worked very collaboratively in delivering it. There was real emotion here, too. Well done!”