Lines, the brilliant brainchild of Alexandra Aron, Junaid Sarieddeen, Asiimwe Deborah Kawe and actors John Rwothomack and Fidaa Zidan, weaves the performers’ life stories with those of prisoners in five prisons across five decades and three countries: Palestine, the UK and Uganda.
Premiered at the Crucible Playhouse, this revelatory Sheffield Theatres, Roots Mbili and Remote Theater Project co-production shows us the personal impact of the ongoing colonisation of Indigenous peoples, felt both at home and in the diaspora. Through the intersections between recent Ugandan and Palestinian history, we learn that the first prisons built in both countries are the result of Britain’s brutal hegemony, a testament to the loss of freedom required to enrich white capital and control across borders.
A series of vignettes presented in quick succession shine light on Ugandan-Palestinian resistance, love and cultural exchange. At the same time they invite constructive conversations about the need to examine how we perpetuate systemic oppression, such as anti-Blackness, and cause interpersonal harm, whether or not we identify as freedom fighters.
