one4review | On 19, Aug 2024

When I gazed upon the stage with it’s traditional wall hangings and sewing table, and listened to the soundtrack of traditional music, I was ill prepared for the fruity language that came from the mouth of our 80-year-old heroine, Hajja Souad as she batted off any attempt to make her leave Palestine as the bombs rained down outside her workshop. It was obvious that life had made her tough and over the next 60 minutes we are treated to a history of what it means to have been born a Palestinian in the 20th century.
When her family’s farm is seized by the British in order to be transformed into a kibbutz, Hajja Souad moves to Jerusalem with her father and there, under the tutelage of the High Commissioner’s wife Lady Cunningham, develops her sewing skills, as well as horse riding and piano playing. However, in 1948, her life is turned completely upside down when the Israeli forces approach Jerusalem and her father is shot. To make matters worse, the Cunninghams flee without her, and she is left alone in the world. When she escapes Jerusalem along the Hebron Road, she finds a baby under a cactus plant and the two of them find shelter in an UN Refugee Camp where she makes a family life for them. However, the outside world never lets her be, and she finds that the garments that she makes with love for her family, tragically end up being used as their shrouds.
Julia Tarnoky plays Hajja Souad with such a delicate touch as she moves gracefully across the stage. The play (written by Ahmed Masoud) is Hajja Souad’s story, but at the same time gives a clear picture of what was happening in Palestine after World War II. Given the current situation, it is timely piece of theatre to help us understand why things are as they are now, and why we, as a nation, are far from blameless.

****1/2
Reviewed by Rona
11.05am
Pleasance Dome – 10 Dome
Until 25th August