Arts Centre Melbourne By Arrangement With Arts Projects Australia Presents TAHA

Following sell-out shows in London, Edinburgh and Adelaide, Qadita production's TAHA, the award winning lyrical story of the life of Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali will be presented in the State Theatre for 6 shows only from July 10-14 as part of Art Centre Melbourne's Big World, Up Close series. Written and performed by Palestinian author and performer Amer Hlehel, TAHA has been translated into English and directed by Amir Nizar Zuabi, one of the Middle East's most important writer/directors.

Simply staged, with no props, other than a bench and a briefcase, Hlehel pulls the audience into the story of how a humble, engaging man evolved into a renowned Palestinian writer against all the odds and whose beloved verses document hopeful survival.

Based on Adina Hoffman's book My Happiness Bears No Relation to Happiness and based on the poet's 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. Hlehel creates the life of a young man determined to overcome the poverty of life in his village. His early years of optimism and entrepreneurship are cut short when his village is bombed in 1948. Hlehel as Taha, entices the audience to follow him and his family as they flee to refugee camps in Lebanon.

On a bench in a circle of light, Hlehel conjures the sounds, smells and tastes of the celebrated Palestinian poet's village, Saffuriyya, the market places and exhaust fumes of Haifa and the streets of Nazareth. We feel the cosy rooms, filled with the aroma of coffee, where his father presided over his salon. TAHA is so vividly realised you will feel you lived alongside him.

Amer Hlehel said of the piece, "I discovered that Taha's story is our story-the story of people who were displaced and lost their homeland and their lives and their nature. Taha wrote the finest poetry about his experience. It was personal, deep and tender and it gave me the ability to write a play that was larger than a single life in terms of the history and how we deal with it as human beings. "

Actor, director and playwright Amer Hlehel is based in Haifa. He has written several plays, including "Taha" (Best Production- Asian Arts Award- Edinburgh 2017), "Lanterns of The King of Galilee" (An adaptation from a novel written by Ibrahim Nasrallah), "Juha and Bahlol" (children's play), "What the Story is All About", and "Almushakhesati - the Player" (with Firas Khateeb and Ala Hlehel). He has appeared in numerous productions, including as Caliban in Shakespeare's "The Tempest" in David Farr's production at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-on-Avon; as Abu Altayib in "Goats" at The Royal Court Theatre, London; as Truffaldino in "A Servant of Two Masters"; as Dr Roberto Miranda in "Death and the Maiden"; as Yusuf in "I am Yusuf and This is My Brother" by Amir Nizar Zuabi; and as The Soldier in Kafka's "In the Penal Colony" at the Young Vic (London), directed by Amir Nizar Zuabi, He has also performed as Diab in "Diab" (Award for Best Actor and Best Solo Performance at the Masraheed Festival, 2005, Acco) and as Enkido in "Gilgamesh Didn't Die". Hlehel's film work includes Palestinian films: "Personal Affairs", "The Idol", "The Time that Remains", "Amreeka", "Man Without a Cell Phone" and the Golden Globe award-winning "Paradise Now". His work as a stage and film director includes "What the Story is All About", "Breaking News", "Finding the Dream", "Thanks", "Prayer" (on video) and "Altagreeba". Hlehel is one of the founders of Qadita Production Company in Haifa and a Sundance Institute Theatre Program alumnus.

TAHA was recently presented at the Adelaide Festival, and several other venues across Australia. In 2017, the show was successfully presented at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Young Vic in London, and at The Lowry in Manchester. In May 2018, the show will be presented at the Singapore International Festival of Arts. The show has received excellent reviews in all cities.

TAHA is part of Big World, Up Close - a powerhouse performance series showcasing the most compelling new works from across the globe. Tapping into urgent energies from Africa to the Middle East and Australia's own shores, each piece in the series reveals profound and personal stories told by vital voices in music and theatre. Launched in 2017, Arts Centre Melbourne's contemporary winter performance series features works that are created by artists from diverse backgrounds that promote conversations around pressing cultural and political issues. In addition to TAHA, the Big World, Up Close program features The Fall by the Baxter Theatre Centre from Cape Town and Native Tongue by Mojo Juju, a musician of Indigenous Australian and Filipino heritage.

Bookings: https://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au and 1300 182 183