04-01-2018
The Educational Development and Research Program/ Abdelmohsen Al-Qattan Foundation completed the first phase of two courses on playwriting and puppets animation, held between May and November 2017. The courses were mentored by senior researcher of the Program, Kifah Fanni, and were attended by teachers and children from Ramallah, Gaza, Tulkarem and Naalin.
Puppet Animation
Forty teachers participated in the puppet animation workshop in Ramallah and Gaza. The training focused on modeling puppets using clay on metal skeletons. It also covered using cardboard to make puppets and build vehicles, houses, gardens and other fixtures. Teachers also learned to use Lapse-it application, which is a photography technique that gives an accelerated view of slowly changing event.
Forty girls from Anabta enrolled in the workshops under the mentorship of teacher Kareema Awadallah. They were trained to build puppets and write a small script on their social issues and realities. Some of their scripts were selected for production in stop-motion animations.
Participants will – individually and collectively – produce puppet animation products and films for display in the opening of Al-Qattan’s new building in 2018.
Playwriting Course
The playwriting course was organized by researcher Kifah Fanni and was attended by 55 participants from Ramallah, Gaza, Niilin and Anabta. It covered the technical aspects of writing including setting, characters, plot, dramatic action and script writing involving both theoretical presentations and practical exercises.
Participants discussed many issues they wished to write about and selected some of them to work in groups in their respective geographic areas. The topics included immigration, social media, effluent consumption and its effect on the society, marginalization of women and liberation as a collective responsibility.
Schemes of plays veering these issues were prepared and groups are now developing their final script drafts. Some of the drafts will develop into theater performances and readings for publication in a book combining different scripts from all workshops.
Teacher Ghassan Nadaf, participant in the Playwriting and Drama Programs at Al-Qattan Foundation, mentored a playwriting workshop in Anabta to train 12 participants.
The playwriting course included an intensive workshop led by British playwright and director, Christopher Koper, in Ramallah. The workshop was held in September in partnership with the Arab Theater Training Center (ATTC), with support from Tamasi Performing Arts Collective, and Al-Balad Theater. The workshop was based on and approach developed by Edward Bond, a leading playwright in the twentieth century.