Alaa Shehada: The Horse of Jenin

From Palestine, a theatrical work of beauty:
The Horse of Jenin comes to Oslo Fringe. Bulldozers. A disappeared monument. A boy’s imagination. One man’s journey to rebuild a symbol of hope – in fragments, memories, and laughter.

Shehada, a central figure The Palestine Comedy Club and graduate of Nobel Peace Prize nominated Freedom Theatre Acting School, grew up in Jenin, the West Bank, playing beneath a five- metre-high metal horse. Built from the wreckage of an Israeli incursion in 2002 by a visiting German artist and the children of Jenin, the sculpture stood in the centre of the refugee camp for 20 years as a beacon of imagination and resistance. In October 2023, the horse was bulldozed and taken away. Now, Shehada rebuilds it, on stage.

This is not a didactic political play. It is a charming, poetic, often very funny journey through shifting theatrical forms – a whirlwind of comedy, storytelling, physical theatre and raw emotion that carries the audience with it, sometimes gently, sometimes at full gallop. A story of childhood games beneath drones, of first love under curfew, of a community whose humour outlives its grief.

“Palestinians are so often portrayed as angry or tragic,” says Shehada. “The Horse of Jenin is about a child who wants to play, a teenager dreaming of his first kiss. And a man, years later, wondering what happened to the symbol that gave him hope.”

In a world of hard headlines, The Horse of Jenin offers a human story told with tenderness and real theatrical craft. Storytelling as resistance. Comedy as cultural soft power. And above all, a quietly defiant reminder that imagination can’t be bulldozed.

“You may be able to destroy a symbol of freedom and resistance, but you cannot destroy the idea behind it” - NRC HANDELSBLAD

"Most Impressive Show" - Netherlands Theatre Festival Official Jury Nomination

“A darkly comic portrait of life under Israeli Occupation” - NRC HANDELSBLAD

“A quietly powerful blend of comedy, memory and resistance” - 3 VIEWS THEATRE (NEW YORK)

“Ultra witty and brilliantly timed” - DE THEATERKRANT

“I cried. The charming way you brought the children to life is something I will remember forever” - VIEWER

***** Fest
***** Edinburgh Festivals Magazine
**** The Stage
**** The Financial Times
**** London Theatre

Fringe First Award - The Scotsman
Outstanding Show Award - Fringe Review
Outwith Award for International Talent - The Skinny/Fest
The 10 Stand Out Shows of the Edinburgh Fringe - Rolling Stone

Credits
Written and performed by Alaa Shehada
Co-written by Sam Beale
Masks by Den Durand
Music by Remy van Kesteren and Khalil Al Batran
Dramaturgy by Maarten Bos
Lighting Design by Lily Woodford-Lewis
Production Photography by Kamerich & Budwilowitz and Harry Elletson
Produced by Qasim Salam
Pictures by: ©Kamerich & Budwilowitz