Inad Theatre Group

February 16, 2004
By Paula Handal

Like any young, thriving, talented group, they have dreams and aspirations: yet they also carry much frustration because they live in Palestine, where their movements and possibilities are quite constrained and limited due to the continuous restrictions faced by Palestinians everyday. Khalid, Marina, Nicola, Abeer, Mohamed, Raeda and Ruba make part of such a group. They make up Inad Theatre, the only professional theatre group in the southern part of the West Bank. From Nicola’s witty humor, to Khalid’s theatrical brilliance, Inad continues to flourish no matter what obstacles are placed in front of them. They continue to grow, they continue to teach, they continue to travel, they continue to prosper, they continue to entertain and they continue to persevere. Who are the talented people that make up this group? What is INAD theatre?

 Inad (means stubborn) was created in 1987 by four talented Palestinians who after performing a small sketch called “Disco Party” decided to form a theatre group that would allow them to continue to perform for audiences. Five new members were added since and within four years after Inad started its professional work it has carried out several successful performances.

One of main goals of INAD is to further develop the arts and theater of the area. One way they do that is widen the Palestinian theatre movement which is not an area that is fully built up. Through this development it provides support and encouragement for Palestinian writers and playwrights to write and then producing their work. Furthermore, Inad tries to improve understanding among Palestinians by working with other theatre groups and they work to establish relations with foreign groups by performing in international festivals.

From the time Inad started performing, it has stretched out its arms to other areas such as the education sector and outreach programs. Other than providing theatre and arts to 200,000 residents of the West Bank which includes children, Inad provides much more than that. This group has several on going programs that include teaching drama and workshops to children the ages 8-15 in the Bethlehem area schools, mobile theatre performances for children in camps, villages, and rural areas during holiday seasons, working with young Palestinian playwrights, and working and training children that are deaf at the Al-Hayah Society for the Deaf. Such activities for children are desperately beneficial in the area and these services provide much needed entertainment.

 The Inad Studio is located in Beit Jala, a town located near Bethlehem. The achievements of this group were made possible with its Swedish partner Dramatiska and the local residents. The structure was made available by the building’s owner who provided the group with the space rent free for two years. Local merchants have assisted by donating various supplies, building materials, electrical items, accessories such as doors and pipes. Office supplies were also donated by the Palestinian Ministry of Culture.

Even if the local community has been generous, many needs are still not met at the studio and much work is still needed. Due to the constant shelling by the Israelis, many parts of the building have been damaged inside and out. Even equipment was destroyed with electrical shortages and the scars of these bombardments can clearly be seen with the holes from bullets and shelling in the surface of the structure.

Inad has many more goals and they have projects that are constantly underway. Nothing will stop this talented group of Palestinians.

If you would any more information about Inad Theatre you can log on to www.inadtheater.org or contact them at 972-2-276-6263.