test The Gaza Monologues Part I|Education & Theatre

The Gaza Monologues Part I A transnational theatrical movement of witnessing and resistance

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Published: Nov 29, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/edth.43269
Keywords:
Gaza Monologues ASHTAR Theatre testimonial theatre cultural resistance Palestinian Performance
Marina Johnson
Abstract

The story of The Gaza Monologues is presented in two parts: The first part provides a contextual and critical overview of the project and ASHTAR Theatre’s role in shaping political performance in Palestine and beyond. The second part comprises an interview with Iman Aoun, the theatre’s co-founder and executive director, who offers firsthand reflections on the project’s development, impact and ongoing relevance (see pp. 120–123)

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  • Insert: Palestine: Innovative Projects Presentations
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Author Biography
Marina Johnson

Marina Johnson is a PhD candidate at Stanford University with PhD minors in Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies and the Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity. She was a 2021–2022 Graduate Public Service Fellow with the Stanford Haas Center and the 2022–2023 co-artistic director of the Nitery Experimental Theatre. While in Palestine, she co-directed Al Manshiyya (Palestinian National Theatre El Hakawati), Al Akhbar M3 Manar, Nazira and Qirshekl Abyad (Al- Harah Theatre), and led workshops at ASHTAR Theatre. At Stanford, she directed the TAPS Winter 2024 mainstage The Wolves. She regularly works on community-engaged theatre projects in the Bay Area. She has worked as a dramaturg with Golden Thread Productions, Silk Road Rising and Penn State University, as well as on several Stanford mainstage productions. Select additional directing credits include: The Shroud Maker (International Voices Project), Shakespeare’s Sisters (Stanford) and The Palestinian Youth Monologues (Stanford). She co-hosts Kunafa and Shay, a MENA/SWANA theatre podcast produced by HowlRound Theatre Commons. She is also a member of Silk Road Rising’s Polycultural Institute. She has trained with Theatrical Intimacy Education, the Society of American Fight Directors, the SITI Company, the Kennedy Center Directing Lab and the Chicago Directors Lab. She holds a Certificate in Critical Consciousness and Anti-Oppressive Praxis from Stanford University, an MFA in Directing from the University of Iowa and a BA and a BS from Penn State University. Her scholarship has appeared or is forthcoming in Theatre/Practice, TDR, Theatre Topics, Arab Stages, Milestones in Staging Contemporary Genders and Sexualities (Routledge) and Women’s Innovations in Theatre, Dance, and Performance, Volume I: Performers (Bloomsbury). For more information, visit https://marina-johnson.com

References
Al-Saber, S., Higgins, J., Douglass, R. J., Higgins, J., & Schweikardt, M. (2022). The Gaza Monologues: Palestine, Representation, and Reciprocity. Theatre History Studies, 41(1), 54–59. https://doi.org/10.1353/ths.2022.0025
Ashtar Theatre. (2010). The Gaza Monologues. https://www.gazamonologues.com/copy-of-team
Ashtar Theatre. (2013, August 9). A Documentary film: Gaza Monologues by Kahlil Almuzaian [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1ZJKv-SuuQ
Ashtar Theatre. (2023). Letters to Gaza: People around the world for Gaza. https://www.gazamonologues.com/lettersto-gaza
Ashtar Theatre. (2024). The New Gaza Monologues. https://www.gazamonologues.com/s-projects-basic
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HowlRound Theatre Commons. (2023, November 29). The Gaza Monologues presented by Theatre of the Oppressed NYC. HowlRound. https://howlround.com/happenings/gaza-monologues-presented-theatre-oppressed-nyc
Sheehan, D. (2023, November 21). This Palestinian group has an urgent request for theater companies around the world. Literary Hub. https://lithub.com/this-palestinian-group-has-an-urgent-request-for-theater-companies-around-the-world/
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