A moving monologue capturing the life story of celebrated Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali.

TAHA is the beautiful optimistic picture of the Palestinian people – of all of us. In his beloved verses, Taha documents hopeful survival after 50 years of loss – loss of his home, his lover, his friends and his shop in Saffureh in Galilee.

Adapted from Adina Hoffman’s critically acclaimed book of the poet’s life and works, writer-performer Amer Hlehel has created a tour-de-force solo performance interweaving Taha’s singular and exquisite poetry with his compelling life journey. Born in a village in Galilee in 1931, Taha fled with his family to a refugee camp in Lebanon in 1948 before returning to Nazareth where he ran a souvenir shop and taught himself classical Arabic literature and learnt English.

Masterfully performed by Hlehel in both Arabic and English versions under the sensitive direction of Amir Nizar Zuabi, founder of theatre company ShiberHur, TAHA powerfully communicates the sorrow, humour, resilience and tender humanity of this extraordinary man and artist. The one-man production, performed on a stage bare except for a bench and a yellow square, is the purest evidence of the ability of good theatre, free of superlatives, to move hearts and minds.

(Photos by Saheer Obaid)