About Us
Using the arts as a model for social change, The Freedom Theatre is developing the only professional venue for theatre and arts in the north of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The aim of this project is to empower and give voice to the children of Jenin Refugee Camp through a unique programme of workshops and activities in theatre, supporting arts and multi-media, ranging in their emphasis from the largely therapeutic and healing, to the presentation of high-quality artistic products.Empowering Children and Youth
The main aim of this programme is to provide the children and youth of Jenin Refugee Camp with a safe space in which they are free to express themselves and in which they can develop the skills, self-knowledge and confidence which would empower them to challenge present realities and to reach out beyond the limits of their own community.Isolated from the world and subject to nightly incursions by the Israeli Army, these are growing up amidst a seemingly endless cycle of violence and oppression. Living with chronic fear, depression and often deeply traumatised, they are largely deprived of a normal childhood in which to play, experiment, and develop a healthy and meaningful sense of themselves and their surroundings.
The Magic of Theatre
At the same time the organisation also reaches out to the general population of the camp and surrounding areas, utilising the magic and fantasy of theatre to offer some respite for a population that continues to live in a daily reality of violence, aggression and almost total isolation.The Freedom Theatre is committed to the principle that, for artist, spectator and listener, the creative process is one of embracing the unknown and re-arranging reality, and that this is the first step to imagining and accepting alternatives. In societies that reward obedience over initiative, certainty over risk, influence over merit and established programmes over experimentation, this is radical. In theatre, this can also be magical.