KEFFIYEH/MADE IN CHINA Will Make Canadian Premiere

Making its Canadian premiere, Keffiyeh/Made in China is as relevant as when it was first produced. With heartbreak and humour, this poignant show offers a candid, humanity-filled look into life under prolonged occupation. Acclaimed Palestinian poet, playwright, novelist and educator Dalia Taha was raised and currently lives in Ramallah, West Bank. Of note, the word ‘occupation’ is never said, yet Taha captures the distinct minutiae, gut-punches and everything in between, the way only someone who lives it can. Rahul Varma, artistic director of Teesri Duniya Theatre is proud to present this important show playing at Rangshala Studio at Cité-des-Hospitalières from April 10-26. Continuing their mandate to encourage dialogue, the company will hold moderated, post-show talkbacks. The play contains adult language.

For Varma, true peace requires addressing the root cause; occupation must end. His ongoing hope for the season is to mobilize public opinion in pursuit of freedom for Palestine through the power of art. This closing play fits that goal. “Keffiyeh/Made in China seeks to foster dialogue, understanding and peace, promoting visibility for Palestinian theatre within Canada’s cultural mosaic,” he said.

Keffiyeh/Made In China is a compilation of 10 short plays that weave an unfolding story. It explores how ordinary life, even the most intimate relationships and everyday occurrences, is destabilised under colonization and displacement. Audiences get an honest window into insightful everyday stories…  A mother and father buying their son his favourite fruit; siblings arguing with one another about who is the better writer; a business owner trying to sell the latest trend; parents decorating a child’s room; a couple reaching for intimacy on a night without the kids. These are unsettling, touching, humorous, heart-wrenching and beautifully mundane moments, offered against a backdrop of grief, death, rage and hope.

Chelsea Dab Hilke deftly directs the five talented actors. Playing a wide range and depth of characters in over 30 roles are Basma Baydoun, Rahul Gandhi, Joy Ross-Jones, Hiba Sleiman and Alaadeen Tawfeek. The people in this play have spent their entire lives in the occupied West Bank. Here, trying to connect under the daily pressures, everybody wants to speak but nobody wants to listen.

Hilke feels especially connected to the overall theme of paradox in the play. “To be human is to live in a state of contradiction, to look for hope in grief, joy in pain, laughter in sorrow,” she said. “I guarantee that people will leave with a deeper appreciation for the complexity and profundity of our existence, and a desire to extend that horizon to the dreams and lives of those in Palestine, and in occupied lands all over the world struggling to be seen.”

The show resonates with cast member Joy Ross-Jones, “I’m from Venezuela, a country that for the past 20 years has faced extreme political challenges; I carry this with me wherever I go. People need to see Keffiyeh/Made in China to understand that where life is hard, people laugh hard too. This play encapsulates the often-absurd relationship between humour and the horrifying.”

Actor Aladeen Tawfeek was drawn to doing this show for many reasons. “The play explores survival, dignity and the weight of history. It’s notable how the playwright refuses to flatten Palestine into a singular narrative but rather offers the scope of human nuance. I hope people walk away with a more rounded understanding of Palestine, not just as a political issue, but as a lived reality; the recognition that Palestine isn’t just a headline, it’s people,” said Tawfeek.

Evoking the world of these varied yet connected narratives are award-winning and nominated designers: set and costume, Diana Uribe; sound, Rehan Lalani; and Jordana Natale, lighting. The stage manager is Abi Sanie.

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