Animal Farm and In Place of War

http://www.youtube.com/user/thefreedomtheatre
Thought this was interesting. Palestinian theatre company in the Jenin refugee camp doing animal farm. I especially like the former guerilla fighter saying "all theatre is revolution". Also the idea that the 'pigs' become like Farmer Jones when they start saying 'I' not 'We'.

The Freedom theatre was built largely with money made by a documentary called Arna's children. It is by a half Israeli half Palestinian actor who filmed the children he did drama classes with in the refugee camp. He returns years later after the battle of Jenin to find out what became of the children. Most of them are dead, either through fighting or becoming suicide bombers. In tracing the kind of life that can lead people to do such terrible and extreme things it is very interesting, and, of course, heartbreaking. If anyone would like to borrow it just ask me.

I recommend this as a general resource:
http://www.inplaceofwar.net/

"What is In Place of War?
In Place of War researches theatre and performance practice from sites of crisis and armed conflict. The first decade of the 21 st century has witnessed multiple wars and humanitarian crises - connected to the instabilities of economic globalization, historical political grievance, global structural inequity and new forms of ecological threat. While the events of our contemporary 'times of blood and crime' are not without historical precedent, they have never before had such evident global reach, impact and interconnectedness. "

Lastly - I met a man on a train once who was a refugee from Sudan. He said that in his village it was not safe to talk about politics. So, in the guise of theatre, they would perform to each other in mime. They had a set of complex physical symbols, so they could have political discussions, while to anyone watching it would look like they were just playing. Today i thought of him in relation to the non verbal communication between the rebels.

Clare