- Title: WEST BANK: Palestinian stage actor takes expands career on regional television
- Date: 6th November 2007
- Summary: (MER1) RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PALESTINIAN ACTOR RAFAT LAFI WITH HIS WIFE SABREEN YAQOUB-LAFI AND HIS BABY GIRL NAY STANDING IN LIVING ROOM OF THEIR HOUSE VARIOUS OF RAFAT AND SABREEN SITTING IN LIVING ROOM WITH SABREEN CARRYING BABY CLOSE OF RAFAT LAFI LOOKING AT HIS DAUGHTER CLOSE OF BABY GIRL NAY SLEEPING IN HER MOTHER'S ARMS LAFI HOLDING OUT HIS ARMS TO TAKE HIS DAUGHTER
- Embargoed: 21st November 2007 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
- Reuters ID: LVA19I58EGNFDJMA2VEQA8O8MQ4C
- Story Text: Actor Rafat Lafi, a former resident of a West Bank refugee camp, is a rising star on the Palestinian stage and regional television screens.
Twenty-seven-year-old Palestinian actor Rafat Lafi has come a long way from the dusty alleyways of the Aroub refugee camp near the West Bank city of Hebron, and now plays a lead role in the first television drama of his career.
Lafi says the stage, where he began acting, provided him with an escape from Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the constraints of the refugee camp.
"I used to feel the whole time that I was growing and my surroundings were shrinking. At some point, the (refugee) camp taught me how to overcome the restrictions there and look for a wider space. The only chance I had to gain freedom as a human being was to get on stage, the theatre,"
Lafi said at his home in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Lafi lives with his wife Sabreen Yaqoub-Lafi, also an actor, and their newborn daughter Nay.
He started acting with the Theatre Day group in Hebron. He moved to Ramallah in 2003 to join the al-Rahalah troupe and take on a main role in the successful play "The Shadow", based on a story by renowned Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani.
Lafi is proud of advances made in theatre in the Palestinian territories, which is relatively new to the performing arts. Other Arab countries, such as Egypt and Lebanon, have a long tradition in the threatre and television drama.
"Today, our theatre can compete with theatre around the world and in the region, and its presence is very strong, it is competitive. But now we have to take things to another level, we need to produce very good drama."
Lafi, who has lived all his life under Israeli occupation of the West Bank, says art is an effective tool to put the Palestinian point of view across to the international community.
"There are power balances in the world, weapons alone are not enough, and art and theatre and the violin and the oud (Middle Eastern lute-like instrument) all complement each other. The politician has a role to play, the artists has a role to play and the child has a role to play. We try to complete this circle so we can send our message to all people," Lafi said.
Lafi and fellow actors Nabil Alraie, Hazem al-Sharif, Nidal Samir, Muhannad Salahat and Sabreen Yaqoub-Lafi established a children's theatre troupe with the same name as Lafi's daughter -- "Nay."
Lafi now has a lead role in the first television drama of his career, titled 'The Invasion' and produced by the Jordan-based independent production company Arab Telemedia Services. The series tells the story of a group of armed Palestinian men caught up in the Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp, and the Israeli re-occupation of most West Bank towns, in 2002.
His wife Sabreen Yaqoub-Lafi says she hopes the role will be the beginning of a successful television career for Lafi.
"Rafat's talent and abilities are very impressive, whether on stage or television -- even though this is his first experience in television -- and I very much hope for a good future for him," Yaqoub-Lafi said.
Some of Lafi's friends believe the role will draw attention to Palestinian acting talent.
"Rafat wasn't looking for a role in a television series as much as looking for an experience in drama. Many people have high hopes for it because they have had little faith in Palestinian drama so far," Lafi's friend Muhammad Salahat, a journalist, said.
Lafi said his next goal is to play the role of Naji al-Ali, a Palestinian political cartoonist who became famous for his sharp criticism of Israel and stinging commentary on Arab public opinion.
"The character of Naji al-Ali is one that any actor, I believe, would like to play, because the role can highlight an actor's artistic skills," Lafi said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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