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In the last five years, the Palestinian National Theatre (PNT), better known as Jerusalem's ElHakawati Theatre, has been at risk of permanent closure. In the absence of public support from theater artists worldwide and lobbying efforts by politicians and power brokers for the PNT, Jerusalem could lose one of its most revered, respected and historically significant cultural institutions. While popular opinion of the theater among Jerusalemites remains high, local advocates face mounting odds, and their pleas for support have not been met with the necessary attention or assistance.
Three Reasons Why the Future of the Palestinian National Theatre Is in Danger
A number of factors have worked against the long-term survival of the theater despite ongoing efforts by local artists. First, in the last two decades, the audience for Palestinian theater in Jerusalem has become limited to Jerusalemite residents due to the emergence of checkpoints and the Israeli segregation wall between the theater and its audience in the rest of the West Bank. Effectively, these rising pressures reduced the theater's potential audience from over 2 million throughout the West Bank to roughly 200,000 Jerusalemites living in East Jerusalem. Second, international funding agencies, which had supported the theater in recent years, have significantly reduced their financial support despite the management's attempts to apply for additional grants. Third, collaborations between the theater and international partners have dwindled to only one significant ongoing partnership with Theatre D'lvry in France (a tour of their coproduction Rose and Jasmine is expected in 2017). Fourth, and perhaps most important, in the absence of a steady stream of production income, the theater has collected approximately NIS 600,000 shekels (US$175,000) in debt despite the theater employees' admirable choice to continue their work without pay. El-Hakawati has survived many crises in...