SUMMARY
After the first Israeli attack on Gaza 2008-9, the ASHTAR theater in Ramallah organized a global project following Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed methods: 31 Gazan youths aged 14-18 engaged in intensive workshops and developed monologues expressing their dreams, fears, frustrations, and aspirations before, during, and after the war—memoirs of 22 days of living hell during which at least 1,380 Palestinians died, 431 of whom were children. On October 17, 2010, children from 40 countries performed the monologues simultaneously starting in Gaza. The theatre-play has since been presented in over 40 countries—but never by the writers themselves, because Israel would not allow them to leave the besieged and militarily enclosed Gaza Strip.
In 2016, after two more Israeli wars on Gaza, seven of the youths are invited to perform their Monologues at a Festival in Ramallah. For all, this would be the first time ever to visit the West Bank, also part of their homeland and a mere 1.5 hours’ drive away.
We Are Here accompanies these seven youths while they wait for the decision about their travel permits, hardly daring to hope.