PalFest Ireland is an arts festival organised by Irish artists in solidarity with the besieged people of Gaza, the Palestinian territories and the Palestinian diaspora in exile.
It will mark the first anniversary of the Israeli bombardment of Gaza that left over 2100 Palestinians dead, including more than 500 children.
PalFest Ireland will be a lively, diverse, positive and culturally rich arts festival involving artists across a broad range of artforms. The festival will include music, theatre, film, dance, literature, spoken word and visual arts events in many venues to promote a cultural connection between Ireland and Palestine. The festival will take place from Wednesday 8th-Saturday 11th July 2015.
Wednesday 8th – 1pm
The Luthier
by Lucy Caldwell
(20mins)
Directed by Davey Kelleher
The Luthier centres around a young apprentice – Luthier – a violin repairman in Ramallah. His name is Dawood Al-Suleiman and his story reveals, as he repairs a violin, a memory from ten years previously when he was aged nine. His friend, Yusuf, found what he thought was a porn video. When a gang of boys discovered, after much anticipation, that it was not the case, they chased Yusuf into the street:
“White phosphorus ignites in the air and when it comes in contact with the skin it burns to the bone and beyond. It burns at 816˚ Celsius or 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit until the oxygen supply is cut off or there is nothing left to burn. You can stand on the other side of the street and watch your mother and your sister and your baby brothers melt and turn to smoke before your eyes and there is nothing you can do, nothing”.
Lucy Caldwell is an award-winning writer, and winner of the Rooney Prize for Literature 2012.
The Show is Directed by Davy Kelleher and Performed by Rob Malone
There well be a post-show discussion about the issue of cultural boycott of Israel with invited speakers.
Thursday 9th – 1pm
Bitterenders
by Hannah Khalil (40mins)
Directed by Jeda de Bri
London-based Irish-Palestinian writer Hannah Khalil’s play Bitterenders, a black comedy about a Palestinian family in Jerusalem who are forced to share their house with Israeli settlers, won the Sandpit Arts’ Bulbul 2013 competition and was staged at The Nightingale Theatre in Brighton. A compelling mixture of Beckett-meets-McDonagh set in Jerusalem under the Israeli occupation regime.
Directed by Jeda De Bri, Performed by Áine Ní Mhuirí (Ballykissangel), Michael Bates (Fair City), Hannah Mamalis and Anne Byrne.
Friday 10th – 1pm
The Olive Tree
by Katie O’Kelly (15mins)
‘She’s speaking to me. The olive tree….’
It’s 2014, and the fourth Israeli bombardment in ten years has begun in Gaza. A naïve but well-meaning BDS supporter refuses to buy Israeli goods in Dublin. And the Palestinian olive tree of history comes to life before her…
A lyrical sprint from the fluorescent lights of Clontarf’s Spar to the dusty rubble of Gaza, The Olive Tree is a reaction to the helplessness felt by many watching the attacks last year on our TV screens. A short theatre performance written and performed by Katie O’Kelly and underscored with music by the wonderful Imogen Gunner, it will be followed by a post-show talk on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign.
more info
