Click here!

Showtime from the Frontline

Dodging cultural and literal bullets, Israeli incursions and religion, Mark Thomas and his team set out to run a comedy club for two nights in the Palestinian city of Jenin. Only to find it’s not so simple to celebrate freedom of speech in a place with so little freedom. Read more …

Jenin refugee camp, home to Jenin Freedom Theatre and to people with a wealth of stories to tell. Mark tells this story alongside two of its actors and aspiring comics, Faisal Abu Alhayjaa and Alaa Shehada. A story about being yourself in a place that wants to put you in a box.

More information on this production is available at www.markthomasinfo.com.

The critical consensus

It’s a gloriously thought-provoking reflection on the power of theatre to open minds, win hearts and hopefully, shove us a little bit closer to righting wrongs.

****(*)Claire Wood, The Wee Review, 15/02/2018

The West Bank’s nightly curfews, checkpoints and pipe bombs make for gallows humour in this defiant comedy that gives a voice to the voiceless.

****(*)Mark Fisher, The Guardian, 15/02/2018

Showtime from the Frontline is a genuinely vital piece of theatre that doesn’t aim to answer if theatre or comedy can change the world but proves that it can certainly seriously annoy those in power.

*****Liam Rees, All Edinburgh Theatre, 15/02/2018

Thomas and co have walked the walk and now it’s all about the talk. Laughing as we go.

****(*)Justine Blundell, Edinburgh Guide, 15/02/2018

Defiant and winningly mischievous.

****(*)Jay Richardson, The Scotsman, 17/02/2018

A winning marriage of stand-up and storytelling theatre.

****(*)Allan Radcliffe, 16/02/2018

Yet again, the self-defined “libertarian anarchist” comedian delivers politics without the polemic.

Mark Brown, Scottish Stage, 24/02/2018

Where and when?

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh from Wednesday February 14, 2018, until Saturday February 17, 2018. More info: www.traverse.co.uk

Tron Theatre, Glasgow from Wednesday March 21, 2018, until Saturday March 24, 2018. More info: www.tron.co.uk

Comments: 0 (Add)

To post a comment, you need to sign in or register. Forgotten password? Click here.

Find a show


Search the site


Find us on …

Find us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterFind us on YouTube

This site may set cookies for essential tasks, such as tracking whether you are signed in.

We would also like to set analytics cookies to better understand our users’ behaviour.