A casting becomes a mirror of a larger political narrative, in which Palestine also seems to be auditioning for the right to exist.
On Feb. 2, Rubin Ajlouni premiered his first show Rubin. Rubin started his trajectory with MAP during WIPCOOP 2023. Then he delivered a monologue Jasser, a text by Abdelkader Benali. After WIPCOOP, he was further inspired by Benali and set to work on his own text. He went into residency at hetpaleis, c o r s o/Monty/Rataplan and wpZimmer and received a grant through Fonds voor Talentontwikkeling of the Flemish Government. And voila after two years of writing, tinkering and experimenting, the time had finally come!
Read more about the performance here
Rubin interweaves excerpts from Jasser by Abdelkader Benali with his own texts and performs a solo about identity, representation and the gaze of the other. In a sharp interplay with the audience and characters, he focuses on one question: who gets the role. And who decides?
An actor auditions for the role of Shylock. But as he plays, personal stories slide in: about his Palestinian identity, about the desire to embrace this identity, about the dream of acting, and about what it means to be seen – both as an artist and as a human being.
Benali’s play Jasser, meanwhile, is several decades old, but remains an interesting source. The piece was written during the 2nd intifada, before the death of Yassar Arafat, and before the full military blockade of Gaza. The piece is still miles away from the genocidal violence that has taken place over the past years and that still rages on. There is still “hope” running through Jasser. Benali’s play introduces figures like Yassar Arafat & Shylock’as symbols to relate to. Both figures and hope seem to be lacking in today’s climate…
Credits: Concept, text and play: Rubin Ajlouni // Coach text: Rashif El Kaoui // Coach: Aïcha Cissé // Inspired by excerpts from 'Jasser' by Abdelkader Benali // Photos: Adel Setta (Mellunman) // With the support of MESTIZO ARTS PLATFORM/WIPCOOP, HETPALEIS, Arenberg, wp zimmer, c o r s o, Schouwburg Noord/Merksemdok, Fonds voor Talentontwikkeling.
