Seachtain Saoirse don Phalaistín
Intentionally held on the cusp of Imbolc, the season of new growth in the Celtic calendar, Seachtain Saoirse don Phalaistín is a curated week of celebrating cultural resistance at Project Arts Centre headlined by ‘Return to Palestine’ co-produced with Dublin Theatre Festival and The Freedom Theatre Jenin Refugee Camp, Palestine, funded by The Arts Council of Ireland.
Seachtain Saoirse don Phalaistín brings 18 Palestinian Artists together in Ireland, presents 3 Shows never staged in Ireland before, including the legendary Freedom Theatre’s first ever performance in Ireland. Featuring a New Visual Art process by Tuqa Al-Sarraj, staging the award winning ‘Palestine: Peace de Resistance’ by Sami Abuwardi, and the exquisite contemporary music of Ahmed Eid, with more announcements to come, Seachtain Saoirse don Phalaistín holds space for collaboration, connection and active cultural resistance through the use of art.
This unique week of engagement at Project Arts Centre is an opportunity for audiences in Ireland to engage deeply with Palestinian art, and visions, a way to create a temporal state built with music, words, expression through our bodies and laughter. Seachtain Saoirse don Phalaistín will be a landmark cultural and political event — one that brings artists, audiences, and activists into collective conversation about freedom, occupation, resistance, and the power of art to speak across borders.
The beautiful, poignant image for Seachtain Saoirse don Phalaistín was designed by artist Tuqa Al-Sarraj.
Artist Statement, Tuqa Al-Sarraj
“Drawing on the visual language of International airmail, this work reflects the long history of restriction placed on Palestinian communication under occupation. What once marked the free movement of letters now signals delay, interception, and control. Palestinian mail has been routed through imposed systems, its passage uncertain, its arrival never guaranteed.
Growing up, these envelopes were part of our home. My mother kept them, using them locally to pay bills rather than to send letters, an everyday gesture shaped by restriction. For us, this was also an education: a quiet belief that one day there would be a post of our own. Created for Seachtain Saoirse don Phalaistín, the work insists on communication as an act of connection, endurance and resistance, reaching across borders in hope.”
Return to Palestine
The Freedom Theatre, Jenin, Palestine
Directed by Micaela Miranda
Headlining Seachtain Saoirse don Phalaistín is 'Return to Palestine’ co-produced with Dublin Theatre Festival and The Freedom Theatre, Jenin Refugee Camp, Palestine, funded by The Arts Council of Ireland / An Chomhairle Ealaíon. This is the first time that the legendary Freedom Theatre will perform in Ireland.
‘Return to Palestine’ is a contemporary non-text and devise-based theatre play originally produced by the Nobel Peace Nominated Freedom Theatre in Jenin, Palestine. Devised by Micaela Miranda, Gráinnemir Abualrob and the third generation of The Freedom Theatre School in 2016, the play has garnered multiple awards, including recognition at the Palestinian National Theatre Festival 2018. The performance has been staged 68 times across various countries, including Palestine, Portugal, Jordan, Pakistan, Turkey, Norway, France, Sweden, Egypt, Luxembourg, and Tunisia.
‘Return To Palestine’ tells the story of Jad, an American-born Palestinian who travels to Palestine for the first time. Eager to connect with his roots, he discovers a reality starkly different from media portrayals, as he witnesses the reality of his own people firsthand.
Devised at the Freedom Theatre in Jenin Refugee Camp, the play emerged from story-gathering with communities involved in the Freedom Theatre’s Freedom Ride through Playback Theatre in the West Bank. The cast gathered these stories on their journey on The Freedom Bus and created a storyline that incorporated the locations visited and embodied the stories told using physical theatre techniques.
A dark comedy, physically dynamic, incredibly intense, and rooted theatrical experience, Return To Palestine is accompanied by live music, with no set, no props, just six actors on a 2 by 1.5 metre platform which becomes everyone and everything. Director Micaela Miranda introduced this metaphor for Palestine, impossibly cramped, incredibly dynamic, working often as one body. The show ends with a letter to Gaza written by a Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani.
Palestine: Peace de Resistance
by Sami Abu Wardeh
Fresh from winning awards and critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe and in London, Sami Abu Wardeh’s hit show blends resistance, identity, and 'defiantly goofy' comedy (★★★★ The Guardian). Can resistance be funny? Come find out. You can run from resistance, but it will always catch up with you – as Sami Abu Wardeh finds out in his critically acclaimed show, fresh from winning a Bestie Award and Mervyn Stutter’s Spirit of the Fringe at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
This is comedy where silliness collides with survival. Expect an open call for mass civil disobedience, equitable distribution of hand puppets, and some of the silliest faces you’ll ever see.
As a Palestinian born in exile, only to be displaced from his country of birth by yet another war, Sami digs deep into his ties to resistance and Palestinian identity. What emerges is bold, playful and utterly original: a show that asks whether resistance can be funny, and answers with laughter.
Presented by Salam & Holohan in association with Palestine Comedy Club.
Written by Sami Abu Wardeh.
Directed by Sam Beale.
Ahmed Eid:Solo
Ahmed Eid is one of the most impactful Palestinian artists of his generation. His music tells stories of origin, resistance, hope, and freedom; tales he brings to life with his distinctive musical language.
In his solo debut EP “Aghani Akhira” أغاني أخيرة (Last Songs), he opened a new chapter in 2024 and has already given a first glimpse of his first studio album “min ghazze labaghdad, min haifa la beirut” which will be released in February 2026.
Eid’s eclectic sounds echo across global stages in live performances that get under our skin and remain in our memories for a long time to come.
His 2026 shows will be collecting donations for the Palestine Music Space in Ramallah. This space creates a place where young talents can learn, record, experiment, and create a new sense of rockstardom together free of charge.