CityLife

2000-year-old message for today

BORN In Bethlehem, playing at Contact this weekend, is "a spirited update of the Nativity Story" from Palestinian theatre company Al-Harah.

On the West Bank lies the town of Bethlehem, swarming every day with international tourists, all trying to see the birthplace of Christ.

A tour guide is leading them through the busy streets, showing them around. He's got a fairly amusing way of doing so, by hiring two actors to re-enact the Nativity story. But the actors won't quite stick to the script. Have they a story of their own to tell? Can they continue telling the biblical story without referring to the contemporary life of the Palestinian people?

Two thousand years on, in a town isolated and divided by walls and watchtowers, is it any wonder that the actors are asking: "What would the nativity be like if it happened today?"

Civil society

Born In Bethlehem tells the story of a small town which, despite all the Christmas cards, the checkpoints and curfews, is called "home" by thousands of real people living very real lives.

The stories in the play take place on a daily basis in the Palestinian cities, villages and refugee camps - stories that are documented by international, Israeli, and local human rights organisations.

Al-Harah Theatre (their name translates as The Neighbourhood) was established in January, 2005, and is based in Beit Jala, Palestine.

By promoting theatre arts they aim to assist in building a civil society that emphasises human rights, democracy and pluralism.

They are also currently working towards creating the first drama school in Palestine. "We hope that this play will help UK audiences to understand more about our lives as Palestinians and as artists creating theatre," says the play's director Sami Al Metwasi.

"The play conveys the message that there are Christians in Palestine as well and that the Palestine-Israeli conflict is not a war against Islam but is a war about land. It is not a religious problem."

Born in Bethlehem is performed in English at Contact tomorrow.