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From Challenge # 80  July-August 2003

WORKERS TAKE CENTER STAGE

Michal Freedman interviews  actor Hisham Suleiman

A UNIQUE theatre group has been meeting in Nazareth. It is composed of ten construction workers, all members of the Workers Advice Center (WAC). At our May First celebration in Haifa, it presented the first fruit of its labors, a play of its own making called Who Are We? Drumming with tools on their lunch boxes, the actors emerged from the audience, taking the stage. Here they assembled and began telling stories from their work experiences. Each story mushroomed into a scene.

The group is led by actor Hisham Suleiman, who at 26 has played on stage (Marat/Sade, Eyes That Can See) and film (Two Minutes from Paradise). In an interview at the WAC Center in Nazareth, he talked to me about the group's activities.

How did the group begin?

H.S: We wanted to present something based on the workers’ own lives, so we advertised among our members, inviting people to sign up for a theatre group. We started with twenty. As time passed, some dropped out and we were left with ten.

We worked without a script. We thought it would be interesting to write something together, based on the workers' own stories. We used personal material brought by the participants, which proved to be a serious challenge. Unnerving, even. There were many  difficulties to overcome.

What kinds of difficulties?

H.S: It was hard for the workers to open up and tell their stories, even within a small group. That's one reason why some dropped out. They were not aware of the power there is in telling. They were afraid that others would discover their secrets – for example, that I, the group leader, would learn they'd started working at age 13 because their families were poor. At first that was humiliating for them, but little by little they discovered that everyone had similar stories, similar problems. To put them at their ease, I began with a story of my own, so that they would realize that this kind of thing was acceptable. They began to see the power there is in telling. We had many discussions, and each time I would ask them to tell something. Gradually they opened up.

But there were other problems. Some left the group for religious reasons, because theatre is not acceptable to Islam. The final group was composed of young people, very inexperienced, full of hopes and dreams. They were rebellious. They wanted to do everything, and there are pluses and minuses to that. It was hard to create a sense of group identity. There was a lack of stability. They didn’t always show up, and when they did they were sometimes late. I tried to impart a sense of responsibility, showing how important it is to stick to the timetable and what it means to be part of a group. I think the framework gave them skills they would not have learned otherwise in our society.

How did the production come about?

H.S: I listened to their stories. They reflect the lives of boys who began to work when still very young. They told how employers cheated and exploited them. The production is based on their own words, words one doesn’t easily forget. We didn't generalize, but stuck to details: the moments that stayed with them all their lives – how it was when they first began to work, what happened when they first met their bosses. When they march on to the stage from the audience, for example, they play music with their tools. This music is based on the noises they hear on the building sites, noises that stay with you after a day's work. One of the men wrote a song that we used on stage. Until then, he had never imagined he could write. Before the performance, he doubted whether anyone would pay attention to the lyrics, but afterwards he came to me and said it had made him feel very happy with himself.

A recurring theme in our May First production was the way the workers see themselves. At one point, the ten sit together and argue: we are worthless, no we’re not, yes we are – it's an argument that did take place, in fact, during group discussions. They started thinking about who they are. In the performance, we opened the discussion to the audience. Basically, we said: this is what we think about ourselves, and maybe that is also what you, the workers in the audience, think about yourselves. Now you have to consider whether it's true, and if so, what you want to do about it.

I don’t feel sorry for the workers, and I don’t work with them out of pity. Their job conditions, though, create a feeling of inferiority. The bosses try to induce this feeling in order to exploit them more easily. They want to make the worker dependent, while we want to make him aware of his own strength.

The production helped develop this awareness. Some said afterwards that the performance had made them feel proud and strong, and that their colleagues respect them for it.

This is not the first time you have done theatre work in the community. What led you to this kind of activity?

H.S: I started with community theatre. I grew up in a poor neighborhood of Nazareth, and people considered me a "problem child". When I was 15, though, I took part in a drama class. It made all the difference. I could channel my negative energies into more positive things. I discovered a potential in myself. This is what has led me to work with people from similar backgrounds.

How do you see the role of community theatre groups in Arab society?

H.S: There is no culture of theatre in Arab society. People don’t go to performances, and if there is no audience, there is no theatre. One doesn't find it elsewhere in the Arab world. Even among Palestinians in Israel, a play will run for eight performances at most – not because it isn't entertaining or gripping, but because most people don't know what theatre is. There are a few halls in some of the bigger towns. In the villages there is just the street. Theatre requires its own special place, with its own magic.

What now?

H.S: We want to work with a slightly smaller group on a more professional production, which we want to take from town to town in order to reach a wider audience. The performance will address some of these questions: What is a worker? Where is he now? Where does he want to go? What is he asking for? The situation these days is very bad. Young people look for ways of escape, one of which is drugs and alcohol. Today, each worker feels he stands alone. He needs a society that supports him. A workers’ organization can help them with this, and the theatre can convey the message. I think people who see their friends as workers and actors, performing on stage, will take heart from the example. They will once again try to find a job. Seeing a friend on stage is a far more powerful experience than seeing a professional actor.  n

 

For related articles, please visit WAC's web page: WAC Home