Whenever one writes about the Palestinian theatre scene, localising it is not easy. The theatre scene consists of roughly ten working companies scattered amongst the refugee camps from Jenin in the North to Hebron in the South. In the Gaza Strip there is a continuous stream of educational theatre activities in cooperation with developmental and peace-keeping organisations. The Jordanian capital city, Amman, presents a regional emphasis for Palestinian theatre makers in exile, whilst one searches for them in nearby Lebanese Beirut in vain. In addition, there are a few professional Palestinian groups in Israel, such as the Arabic-Hebrew Theatre in Jaffa, or Amir Nizar Zuabi’s Shiberhur in Haifa, although these theatre groups are viewed with suspicion and hostility by their colleagues in the West Bank or in exile, or they’re simply ignored.

One of the most famous cross-border artists with a Palestinian identity and an Israeli passport is the actor and writer Taher Najib, whose text In Spitting Distance is recognised world-wide and has been translated into many languages. The original text was written in Hebrew in order to bring an Israeli public closer to the realities of Palestinian life. The theme of the monologue is the impossibility of a...