I Have Two Names

I am from there. I am from here. I am not there and I am not here. I have two names.
Produced by Alzaytouna Dance Theatre
Presented by The Cockpit

Salim, a young man, has lived in London for over 10 years. His life is settled in the city. He has a steady job and a healthy social life but the nagging feeling of homesickness is something he wrestles with constantly.

When friends start to take an interest in Palestine and make plans to travel there he is faced with a bittersweet feeling; the pleasure that those close to him want to discover his homeland mixed with the frustration that they can journey there with the ease of holidaymakers, travelling a route that is totally off limits to him.

With Palestine firmly landing itself within his friendship group, Salim finds himself struggling to communicate his lived experience of growing up in Palestine and living in exile. He, himself, has become divided, and reconciling the two Salims into one begins to destabilise his comfortable life in London.

Through Al Zaytouna’s artful mix of dabke, contemporary dance and theatre performed to a ground shaking mix of modern electronic and traditional beats from the Middle East the play questions the nature of Palestinian solidarity and explores the complex experience of exile, identity and homesickness.

As Al Zaytouna always does, this project will use theatre and dance as a process for both audience and performers to explore the challenging issues of tacit Islamophobia, cultural tensions, unconscious bias and the real meaning of solidarity.

This will be followed by Q & A with the director and cast.

Written and directed by Ahmed Najar.

Supported by Arts Council England and Amal – a Saïd Foundation programme.