“Theater, with all its diverse stages, must always be a space for debate and self-critique, a realm that takes the side of the oppressed, a compass pointing toward liberation and emancipation, and a beacon of hope. Whenever the burdens of the theater and theater-artists accumulate, and their hopes fade and their dreams scatter, we must all know with certainty, as a culture, as a society, and as a cause, that we are not well.”
These are the words of Adel Tartir, the theatrical artist, storyteller, guardian of the Wonderbox/Sandouq El-‘Ajab, and the father of the Palestinian theater, who passed away in Ramallah on 10 July 2025.
These words encapsulate the essence of his theatrical philosophy, and illustrate his spirit of resistance and the role he envisaged for theater in liberation. He said repeatedly, “we don’t just live theater; we breathe it,” and he always argued that theater is foremost “a space, stage, and arena for confession, revelation, provocation, debate, and creative confrontation.” In his last act on his deathbed, he reminded me that, “our life is theater, and theater is our life.”
Adel Tartir’s Emancipatory Theatrical Compass, by Alaa Tartir, Scene48, December 2025
Alaa Tartir, Program Director of Al-Shabaka, Engaged Scholar, Global Citizen 