Publications
Amber: ALD explores the myths surrounding love. Why do you think it is important that we question society's pressure on us to chase romantic relationships?
Riham: There are so many images, patterns and ideas around love that we don’t know how to love anymore. We chase an idea of love without knowing where we got this idea. So in this work I am questioning: from where do we learn about love? And is there a way of changing our perspectives about it? There is nothing wrong in romantic relationships, but it shouldn’t be a duty or a pressure. If you don’t have one, then you haven’t failed as a complete person.
Riham: There are so many images, patterns and ideas around love that we don’t know how to love anymore. We chase an idea of love without knowing where we got this idea. So in this work I am questioning: from where do we learn about love? And is there a way of changing our perspectives about it? There is nothing wrong in romantic relationships, but it shouldn’t be a duty or a pressure. If you don’t have one, then you haven’t failed as a complete person.
As an artist from Palestine, my connection to our human existence is unique as I live in one of the most controversial places in the world. Nevertheless, I am a citizen of the world and believe in making art that is influential, provocative for everyone. Flowers and mirrors are recurring objects in my work as both connect me to fragility, vulnerability, dreams, and fragmentations. Through my works, I hope to create some transformation in the world we live in now and to offer my art as an inspiration to build an ideal world.”
This Christmas, he teamed up with the Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle and Palestinian Riham Isaac to stage a nativity play in the shadow of Bethlehem’s barrier wall, the type of playful but highly political art that has become his trademark. The one-off performance of an “alternativity”, with angels who send their tidings of joy through text message rather than personal visitations, was watched mostly by local families and journalists.
48 Minutes for Palestine is a compelling new drama without words, about a woman and a man living together against their will, told totally through physical action and original music.
A woman lives alone and spends her time tending her garden. One day a man walks into her house. He is carrying a suitcase. He looks disheveled and close to death. The woman does not know who he is. But for him, this place is his home… We see the couple struggle for space and power as the temperature rises and the water is running out fast. Theirs is a forced marriage that neither of them wants, in a place that neither will leave.
The play was published in a new drama anthology from Methuen under the title of “Theatre in Pieces: Experimental Theatre from 1968-2010.”
A woman lives alone and spends her time tending her garden. One day a man walks into her house. He is carrying a suitcase. He looks disheveled and close to death. The woman does not know who he is. But for him, this place is his home… We see the couple struggle for space and power as the temperature rises and the water is running out fast. Theirs is a forced marriage that neither of them wants, in a place that neither will leave.
The play was published in a new drama anthology from Methuen under the title of “Theatre in Pieces: Experimental Theatre from 1968-2010.”