Theatre

Showtime from the Frontline

Date: Monday, Feb 12 2018
Time: 8:00pm
Venue: Bristol Old Vic
Artists
Mark Thomas, Faisal Abu Alhayjaa, Alaa Shehada

“Name the comedian who might say “I wonder if I can set up a comedy club… in a refugee camp… in Palestine?” Of course, it’s Mark Thomas. And that is exactly what he tries to do.

“Dodging cultural and literal bullets, Israeli incursions and religion, Mark and his team set out to run a comedy club and put on two nights in Jenin in the West Bank… only to find that it is not so simple to celebrate freedom of speech in a place with so little freedom.

“Jenin refugee camp, a stronghold for the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade during the Second Intifada, is not a place synonymous with laughs. But it is also home to the Jenin Freedom Theatre and to people with a wealth of stories to tell.

EatDrink24/7 Launch Party is back on July 8 2026!
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“Mark tells this story alongside Faisal Abu Alhayjaa and Alaa Shehada, two performers, actors and now aspiring comics from the Jenin Club. This is a story about being yourself in a place that wants to put you in a box. Funny, moving and necessary. Mark says it’s the nearest he will ever get to Alan Parker’s Fame.”

Read our interview with Mark here.

8pm, £21. For more info, visit www.bristololdvic.org.uk/show-time-from-the-front-line.html

Book tickets

By steve wright, Tuesday, Jan 9 2018

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