Fuel > Gecko > The Arab & The Jew
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The Arab & The Jew |
We have seen our fathers shouting and waving their arms in the air. We have watched from a distance and hidden from the news.
Allel Nedjari and Amit Lahav are Gecko. Having grown up on opposite sides of the Arab-Israeli divide, here they celebrate their brotherhood and laugh and cry at their reflections.
Following the multiple-award winning Taylor's Dummies and The Race, The Arab & The Jew is both a riot of sound, image and movement and an ambitious dance of reason and conciliation - performed with Gecko's characteristic exuberance and physical skill.’A wondrous piece of theatre.’ **** Metro on The Race
Co-commissioned by Drum Theatre Plymouth, Lyric Hammersmith, New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich and Tobacco Factory Theatre, Bristol. Supported by Corn Exchange, Newbury, The Junction, Cambridge, South Hill Park, Bracknell and Warwick Arts Centre.
People are often stimulated by the fact that Gecko is the partnership of an Arab and a Jew. “That’s a very good example to set,” they often say, “People should learn by it!” Occasionally, people who know little about our work assume that the company has a political agenda in this respect. On one occasion we were asked if our backgrounds ‘cause problems’ between us. In all cases, we reply that our respective backgrounds have little or nothing to do with our work.
Over the past few years however, during the development of our working relationship, it has dawned on us that our respective ‘Arabness’ and ‘Jewishness’ may indeed be essential ingredients to the way we operate.
In many ways our artistic sensibilities and our artistic communication are born out of our respective non-English backgrounds. We share a certain exuberance and otherness with which we express ourselves and communicate artistically; a direct influence from our parents, grandparents and relatives and our experiences.
At the same time, we too have our Arab and Israeli flags buried somewhere deep inside us. And so, when the issue of Arabs and Israel is raised, as so often happens due to the barrage of images and stories we see and hear, we engage in a careful dance of reason and conciliation, our deep-rooted unconscious allegiances simmering beneath the surface.
The co-existence of these differing inner loyalties and our shared artistic sensibilities were the starting point of an exploration that has become a new Gecko show, a two-hander involving the company’s two artistic directors. In keeping with our style, our show is very human, an emotional, poetic journey focusing on the relationship between us and our hidden loyalties.
To see a work-in-progress short film of The Arab & The Jew, filmed at New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, click here.
Performed and directed by: Amit Lahav and Allel Nedjari
Production Manager: Stuart Heyes
With thanks to: all at the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich for their invaluable help during stage one of the show’s development.
Photography by Gecko
For biographies of Amit Lahav and Allel Nedjari, see Gecko's biog page.
PRESS:
A sometimes ravishing display of theatrical fireworks…striking. **** The Guardian
A finely executed and not easily forgettable production. The Stage
Exhilaratingly inventive…a fast-moving, expertly-performed piece cleverly using images to show what thousands of words have not always shown before. Reviews Gate
Lahav and Nedjari stick an absurdist tongue out at the craziness of prejudice…a diverting portrait of a connection forged in the thorniest of circumstances. Metro
Contact, Manchester
3-5 April 2008, 8pm
Post show discussion 4 April
www.contact-theatre.org
Drum Theatre Plymouth
22-26 April 2008, 7.45pm
Post show discussion 24 April
www.theatreroyal.com
Gecko will be running workshops on 24 and 25 April.
If your group is interested in taking part please contact info@fueltheatre.com
West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds
20-23 May 2008, 7.45pm
Matinee 22 May, 2pm
Post show discussion 21 May
www.wyp.org.uk
Gecko will be running a workshop on 21 May.
If your group is interested in taking part please contact info@fueltheatre.com
Ruhrfestspiele Festival, Recklinghausen, Germany
3-8 June 2008
www.ruhrfestspiele.de
If you are interested in programming performances of The Arab & The Jew , please e-mail info@fueltheatre.com or call Fuel on 0207 228 6688.
We will be developing a series of workshops and teacher training opportunities alongside The Arab & The Jew. For more information or to book e-mail info@fueltheatre.com or call Fuel on 0207 228 6688.
2008
3 week run at Lyric Hammersmith as part of the 2008 London International Mime Festival.
2007
Autumn: national tour to Bracknell, Luton, St Albans, Cambridge, Coventry, Watford, Ipswich and Worthing. International tour to the COS Festival in Reus, Spain.
August: weeklong run at Pleasance, Edinburgh Fringe as part of the British Council Edinburgh Showcase 2007
February: Weeklong half-term residency at The Study Gallery in Poole with local pupils. Gecko worked with the group to investigate the themes of identity and brotherhood drawn from their ideas for The Arab & The Jew.
March: Four week development period with Lyric Hammersmith, New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, and Tobacco Factory, Bristol, culminating in the first work-in-progress sharing of the show at New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich.
April: Two weeks of development at Tobacco Factory, Bristol
May: One week residency at Corn Exchange, Newbury, followed by a WIP performance at New Greenham Arts as part of the Cultivate programme.
June: One week residency at The Junction, Newbury, followed by a WIP performance as part of the JAM programme at The Junction.
August: Previews at the Tobacco Factory, Bristol
You can downloads images and a marketing and press pack for The Arab & The Jew here.
