The Gaza Monologues: Iman Aoun at ICAN conference
by Andrea VALEIRAS
25 October 2010
ASHTAR Theatre is a non-profit organisation developed by two prominent Palestinian actors: Edward Muallem and Iman Aoun. The aim of this project is promote creativity and drive social change, giving voice to those who couldn’t talk before.
For this, ASHTAR combines theatre training for local students with acting programs and professional theatre performances. They work mainly in Ramallah, where they have their main location, but they move their stage to any place that asks for it.
The actors (professional and amateur) travel to different stages showing the audience their situation, talking to them, speaking from the heart, because while they are playing a role, the story is their own. They share with the world their facts, their feelings, their truth.
They are the faces of the civil people that were affected by the conflict, but they are — above all — the image of the future of hope and change. They can transform the situation, they want do it, and ASHTAR tries to give them the tools to achieve common understanding.
This initiative is one of the driving forces of change in Palestine, and there are many foreign countries who ask them to perform abroad.
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