Monkey Baa to Premiere WHERE THE STREETS HAD A NAME

This month, the award-winning theatre company for young people, Monkey Baa will premiere Where the Streets Had a Name, a new Australian play based on the novel by Randa Abdel-Fattah.

Written and directed by Monkey Baa Creative Director Eva Di Cesare (Diary of a Wombat) and developed after an extensive engagement program with school students, educators and members of the Palestinian community, Where the Streets Had a Name will explore themes of occupation, displacement, family and friendship.

The play will introduce audiences to Hayaat, a thirteen-year-old girl on a mission. Hayaat believes a handful of soil from her family's ancestral home in Jerusalem will save her beloved grandmother's life. But standing between her and her goal is the impenetrable wall that divides the West Bank.

But luck is on her side. Hayaat and her best friend Samy have a curfew-free day to travel to Jerusalem. However, while their journey may only be a few kilometres long, it may take a lifetime to complete.

Monkey Baa is dedicated to creating work that offers young people a truly multifaceted reflection of the world they inhabit; and this story will not only reflect Randa's Palestinian and Egyptian heritage, but the experiences of many other Australians who were displaced from their homelands.

"Seeing the story of a Palestinian girl on a stage in Australia feels like the culmination of all my activist efforts over the years," said Randa Abel-Fattah. "For me, this play is an affirmation that what defines our intrinsic humanity is our capacity for story-telling. Showing people the human intricacies of life and relationships is infinitely more powerful than any op-ed I will ever write."

The play stars Dina Gilespie (TV's Redfern Now), Mansoor Noor (The Laden Table), Aanisa Vylet (Martyrs), Alissar Gazal (The Cartographer's Curse), and Sal Sharah (Hakawati), with design by Antoinette Barbouttis, AV design by Jerome Pearch and sound design by Oonagh Sherrard.

Where the Streets Had a Name will premiere at Riverside Theatres Parramatta in August, followed by performances at the Lendlease Darling Quarter in September.

WHERE THE STREETS HAD A NAME

Riverside Theatres, Parramatta - World Premiere

Dates & Times: 30 August, 7:30pm / 31 August - 1 September, 10:15am & 12:30pm

Bookings: www.riversideparramatta.com.au or 02 8839 3399

Lendlease Darling Quarter Theatre, Sydney

Dates & Times: 2 September, 7pm / 4 - 5 September, 10:15am & 12:30pm

Bookings: www.monkeybaa.com.au or 02 8624 9340

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