We are pleased to present a reading of How to make a revolution by Einat Weizman and Issa Amro
“You can’t document what happens in the military courts – you can’t take videos or pictures, no recordings at all. Much of what happens there stays in the dark – unless someone takes the official testimonies and makes them into a play.”
The United Nations calls him a defender of human rights – In Israel they call him a terrorist. Born and raised in the Palestinian city of Hebron, Issa Amro has lost count of the number of times the Israeli army has harassed and arrested him for protesting human rights abuses in occupied Palestine. In February 2016, he was detained and indicted on eighteen charges spanning six years—including incitement, organising protests against military and settler violence in Hebron, insulting a soldier and resisting arrest. In January 2021, he was convicted of six of these charges.
In this new documentary play, Einat Weizman draws on transcripts from Issa’s trial at the notorious Ofer military court where the conviction rate for Palestinians is a staggering 99.7%, and the judges and prosecutors are all on the side of the occupying powerstate. There are no juries in Israel’s military courts: the sentence has been passed before the trial has begun, and the prisoner knows how this will end before the guard has called his name.
However, the occupation is not the only front Issa is facing. Issa's story reveals all the factors and all the pressures that are exerted on those who try to fight for justice and liberation. Issa is also persecuted by the Palestinian Authority, the sub-contractors of the Israeli occupation and its executors.
The play portrays a multifaceted reality, as the playwright is on stage sharing the challenges she has had to face ever since she started working with Issa. She relays how she too came under heavy pressure even from civil society activists and organizations that support the struggle but seek to dictate its terms.
In this impossible reality, while Issa is trying to resist the brutal occupation he is living under, Einat realises that even representing this reality is all but impossible.
Einat Weizman
Based in Tel Aviv, Einat is an actor, director, playwright and political activist. All her plays, performances and events are focused on documentary theatre as an investigative tool into the hidden spaces of the Israeli reality. Theatre includes Prisoners of the, I, Dareen T., House 113: A Lesson in Political Construction, Palestine, Year Zero , Prison Notebooks and Shame . Video art includes 99.7% Convictions, winner of the DocAviv Festival Prize and Living land, Tel Aviv museum. Einat, together with Aziz Al Tori, coordinates the culture project in the Bedouin village of Al Araqib, a village that stands at the forefront of the struggle against the ethnic cleansing of the Bedouins in the Negev. She received the Writer’s Guild of Norway’s Solidarity Grand Award 2019.
Issa Amro
Issa is a prominent Palestinian activist born and raised in the Palestinian city of Hebron. He is the co-founder of Youth Against Settlements, which works to strengthen Palestinians’ steadfastness against the expansion of illegal settlements as well as to document Israeli human rights violations. He has led a non-violent movement of civil disobedience for years. In 2009, he received the One World media award for his involvement in B’Tselem’s Shooting Back project. In 2010, the United Nations named him the Human Rights Defender of the Year in Palestine. In 2013, the United Nations Human Rights Council expressed concern for his wellbeing and safety due to numerous accounts of harassment from Israeli soldiers and settlers and a series of arbitrary arrests. In 2013, too, he was declared a Human Rights Defender by the European Union.
Tamer Nafar
Tamer Nafar is a Palestinian musician, actor, screen-writer, and social activist. Nafar grew up in Lyd, a mixed city of Palestinians and Jews 20 minutes from Tel Aviv, home to one of the largest drug markets in the Middle East. As a teenager, Tamer discovered hip-hop and became the world’s first Arabic rapper. His lyrics and activities reflect the Palestinian struggle, women’s rights, and the promotion of alternative art within a conservative society. In 2000, Tamer formed the first Palestinian hip-hop group DAM. Tamer starred in the feature film “Junction 48” directed by Udi Aloni and written by Nafar and Oren Moverman. The film won the Audience Award at the Berlin Film Festival and Best International Film in Tribeca and will be released in theatres in the US and Europe in 2017.
In 2022 he played the role of Khaled in the Comedy Hummos Full Trailer one of the most successful movies in Israeli theatre for 2022.He recently signed a deal with RoboMagic’s Management and Empire for a new English EP In the name of the Father, the Imam & John Lennon. 2 singles were dropped :The Beat Never Goes Off ft MC Abdul & Noel Kharman & Arabs Say KHOD. The full EP will launch in Spring 2023.
Tamer is acting in the new theatre play How to make a Revolution by Einat Weizman, playing the lead role of nonviolence leader Issa Amro.
Fleece
Theater credits include: Blithe Spirit (Majestic Theater), Bundle of Sticks (INTAR Theatre), Twelfth Night(Commonwealth Shakespeare Co.), The Long Weekend (Lake Theatre), Deathtrap (Winnipesaukee Playhouse), A Taste of Honey (The Pearl), Always a Bridesmaid (Cortland Rep), Julius Caesar (Shakespeare & Co.) TV: ‘The Perfect Murder’, ‘Diabolical’. Readings: The Lark, LaMaMa. Fleece trained at Ecole Philippe Gaulier in Paris, and worked as a producer for Presence Theatre in London, earning 4-star reviews in Time Out and The Daily Telegraph for premieres at Jermyn Street Theatre & Theatre503. Proud member, Actors’ Equity Association. Graduate, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. www.meetfleece.com
Abraham Makany
Makany is a Brooklyn based actor originally from Houston, Texas. Theatre credits include the Tony Award Winning production of The Lehman Trilogy on Broadway (Nederlander Theatre), Noura (Marin Theatre Company),The Corpse Washer in the 43rd Humana Festival (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Waterwell’s Hamlet (The Sheen Center), and The Brig (The Living Theatre). Readings and workshops include work with The Atlantic Theater Co., The Public Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival among others.
Television credits include guest appearances on Orange is the New Black (Netflix), Gotham (FOX), Blue Bloods (CBS), The Blacklist (NBC), Homeland (Showtime), Blindspot (NBC), and The Americans (FX). Favorite film credits include Rainbow Ruthie which premiered at SXSW and the premiere of Brooklyn Park at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
Abraham was trained at Rutgers University's Professional Actor Training Program. He will be seen next on Television in the newest seasons of The Chosen (Amazon, Angel Studios) and Succession (HBO).
Michael Elian
With Israeli and Iranian roots, Elian was raised in NY in a traditional Jewish household. A graduate of the Drama Studies Program at SUNY Purchase, he has been fortunate to perform both on stage and on screen since graduating. Notable credits include roles on The Blacklist, Homeland, Person of Interest and most recently; a recurring role on season 3 of Hulu's original series Ramy. Upcoming projects include a supporting role on the feature Scrap starring Anthony Rapp.
Admission
RSVP with suggested donation
Hours
Wednesday January 25, 2023
7pm
Duration: 70mn
Location
The Invisible Dog
51 Bergen St.