Seven Jewish Children - A Play for Gaza
10 March 2009
Angry? Sad? Confused? Come and spend ten minutes with us.
Seven Jewish Children by Caryl Churchill is a ten minute history of Israel, ending with the bombing of Gaza. Thirteen performances took place on the main stage of the Royal Court Theatre during February 2009.
The play was free to watch and Caryl Churchill asked people to show their support to the people of Gaza by making a donation to 'Medical Aid for Palestinians' (MAP)
If you are interested in performing the play please contact MAP and we can provide you with help - email info@map-uk.org or telephone 020 7226 4114
Click HERE to see a video of the play
Click HERE to download the script to 'Seven Jewish Children' by Caryl Churchill.
Click HERE to learn about more ways you can support MAP
Locations
Seven Jewish Children is now being performed around the world - from Ireland and Athens, Washington DC , New York, Chicago (visit their website here) and Texas.
In June it was performed in Tel Aviv for the first time - at the Rabin Square (Rachel Shabi, 12 June): the name of Samieh Jabbarin's theatre is the Arab-Hebrew Theatre. The name of the Jewish state is Israel. I'm a member of the cast which performed, together with Rami Hoiberger, Sarah von Schwartze, Laila Betterman, and musician Derrar Kallash. The audiences response was enthusiastic. We plan to perform it again.
Gaby Aldor, Co-artistic director, the Arab-Hebrew Theatre, Jaffa, Israel
Reviews
By any theatrical standards the latest play by Caryl Churchill has been remarkably speedy, going from pen to performance on a London stage in under a month.
The reason for the speed is Gaza. Churchill was so appalled by events there that she felt compelled to write, and the Royal Court theatre in London felt a duty to quickly produce her play, titled Seven Jewish Children - A Play for Gaza.
Churchill, one of the titans of British theatre, said: "Israel has done lots of terrible things in the past, but what happened in Gaza seemed particularly extreme."
The play will be performed for free with a collection afterwards for the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians. After the London run Churchill will publish it online and allow anyone, anywhere to download it. "Anyone can perform it without acquiring the rights, as long as they do a collection for people in Gaza at the end of it."
Churchill added: "I wrote it last week; by this week I was arranging it with the Royal Court; it's now being cast; rehearsals are next week; and we perform it on 6 February. It's only a small play, 10 minutes long, but it's a way of looking at what's happened and to raise money for the people who've suffered there."
That tickets are free is important to Churchill. "It came out of feeling strongly about what's happening in Gaza - it's a way of helping the people there. Everyone knows about Gaza, everyone is upset about it, and this play is something they could come to. It's a political event, not just a theatre event."
