GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinian theater has been witnessing remarkable activity after several local plays were performed in early 2016, the last of which was called “Akher al-Ankoud” ("Last Grape in the Cluster"). The play is about a young man in the Gaza Strip who develops deviant behavior due to unemployment and poverty and whose father refuses to abandon him.

Director Ali Abu Yassin told Al-Monitor that many people watched the play, which premiered on June 7 and was last performed on July 22, at the Said al-Mishal Establishment for Culture and Sciences (SAMECS) in Gaza City. “The turnout was quite high, although attendance was not free with one ticket costing 20 Israeli shekels [$5],” he said.

Theater in the Gaza Strip has been suffering since the Palestinian split in 2007, which negatively affected all aspects of life in Gaza, including theater, as people have been worried about their safety.

In this regard, Abu Yassin said that nine years after the Palestinian split, Gazans are back attending theatrical plays that reflect their daily social and political concerns in a comic way. He explained that theatrical activity has resurged thanks to good directing and to scripts that tackle interesting issues, such as unemployment and the effects of the split on Palestinian society.