Palestinian actress Maisa Abd Elhadi makes debut on London stage… without even leaving her home town

Maisa Abd Elhadi will appear via Skype from Nazareth in a new play by Hannah Khalil at the Arcola Theatre next month
Award-winning: Maisa Abd Elhadi will appear in Scenes From 68* Years via Skype
Robert Dex @RobDexES10 March 2016

A Palestinian actress is set for her London theatre debut — without leaving her home town in the Middle East.

Maisa Abd Elhadi, 30, will appear via Skype from Nazareth, Israel in a new play by Hannah Khalil, a graduate of the Royal Court’s young writers programme, at the Arcola Theatre in Dalston next month.

Abd Elhadi plays a young graffiti artist in Scenes From 68* Years, which also stars West End veteran Peter Polycarpou. Director Chris White said: “The play has two scenes where a character in the UK is having a Skype call with their cousin in Palestine.

“We could have played the scene with a theatrical version of Skype or found some way of using sound or staging to suggest it but we thought there was an opportunity here.

“Knowing there are plenty of actors in Palestine we wouldn’t be able to bring over for financial or visa reasons, [we thought] this might be an interesting way of bringing Palestine into the play.”

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Abd Elhadi, who was named best actress at the Dubai Film Festival in 2011, joins a cast of six UK actors in the play. It is made up of about 30 short scenes that move between locations and eras, stretching back to 1948 when the modern state of Israel was founded, and focuses on domestic life in the middle of a conflict. White said it would show “little glimpses of people’s lives without the ideology or partisan aspect”.

Abd Elhadi said: “As a Palestinian actress, this play reflects and represents my thoughts and it holds a message for the whole world about my people. It’s going to be a great experience.”

She auditioned for the part online and will rehearse in the same way. White said: “She joined us on the first day of rehearsals via Skype for a couple of hours so she could virtually meet the rest of the cast and then I will find time to rehearse directly with her.”

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