Shatila Play

On Tuesday 5th April, a group of us went to the Saville Exchange in North Shields to see some children from the Shatila Theatre Company performing a play called Croak, the King, and a Change in the weather. It was a simple yet engaging story about a king who never left his home and always had everything brought to him, until one day when changes in the weather stopped his servants from getting his food. I don't want to give too much away in case anyone reading wants to see it, but the king certainly learnt a valuable lesson about how you can't always have everything your own way. It was a lovely performance, and I was very impressed by the children. They were all Palestinian refugees aged around 12 and 13, and despite a limited knowledge of the language, they performed the play entirely in English. They spoke clearly and expressively, and seemed quite absorbed in their roles. The representations of the weather were lovely, using dance and coloured sheets of material (for example, blue for rain, clear for mist). After the play, the children performed a beautiful traditional Palestinian dance. They wore traditional costumes and had smiles on their faces all the way through. I think that's probably what was best about their performance: their enthusiam. In conclusion, this was a great experience.