"ONE FOR THE ROAD"

As part of our recruitment drive for the Drama Teaching Program, we got in touch with some members of the theatre community in Gaza. When we arrived to hold auditions we were overcome by the scale of interest and demand. We ran a two-year program of basic theatre training for 12 participants, the final flourish of which was a full production, in summer, 1996.

There were three performances to the general public, held at the YMCA in Gaza city. The cast consisted of 8 actors and 1 actress - the first actress ever to appear on the stage in Gaza!

"One For The Road", written in the 1970’s, is regarded as Pinter’s most complex work. He is attacking both the European middle-class intellectuals and an imperial media. When it was performed in Gaza, it was at a time of great social and political change.......the end of the Intifada, the beginnings of autonomy with rule by the Palestinian National Authority.

As it stood, the play was a reminder of a past time we hoped we were rid of, and a warning of potential pitfalls in the long and difficult road ahead.