In Fair Palestine.......

January 19 was the premier of a student film in Ramallah. This film is especially close to the heart of Doug. The film was written, produced and acted in by students in Doug's classes at the Ramallah Friends School. In the Fall of 2005 Doug decided to scrap the textbook studies that the students were falling asleep to in his classes and use his own passion for Shakespeare to attempt to engage the young people. He chose a book - No Fear Shakespeare - Romeo & Juliet and, after the obligatory assignments and grades, there was a remnant of students who were inspired and empassioned to make a film. The theme would be Romeo & Juliet in the setting of Palestine!

The R&J Team, as they were named, began to write a script and meet weekly with Doug. As most of you know, our time in Ramallah ended prematurely after we began to have trouble renewing our visa to stay. But the students continued on, and in June 2007, Doug was able to return to Ramallah to catch the filming in person. The home video Doug brought home of them filming took my breath away!

More months passed as the R&J Team edited their film and began to get the final production ready. January 19 was a day that Doug should have been in Ramallah. I wish we could have all been there for the premier at the Cultural Palace of the student production of: In Fair Palestine A Story of Romeo & Juliet. Tickets were sold for the premier and the Cultural Palace was packed with over 1,000 in attendance. Here are a few comments that were passed on to Doug via email.

Dear Doug,
I thought I would write to you about the wonderful premiere
of Romeo and Juliet tonight. More than one thousand people packed the
Cultural Palace, all eager to see what a bunch of teens had produced. You got
sustained rounds of applause upon the mention of your name as the catalyst
of the film and its promoter throughout. It was an awsome (to use Faris's term)
evening.

You were missed and appreciated tonight.
Thank you.

Hey! Man you should have been there. More than a 1000 people were there. People were sitting on the stairs and others were standing.Thhey all loved it. It was unbelievable. Cheers

Hi Doug,
Thank you for developing the idea for the movie, it was amazing. The auditorium was packed and the students did a wonderful job.
Wish you and your family could of been her. Rave reviews in the newspapers and a local radio station.

Missing you and family,

Rave reviews in two local newspapers and one in Jordan, in addition to a five-minute report on al-Arabiyya satellite TV channel during the prime-time news broadcast, viewed by millions in the Arab world!!

Here's a link to the Youtube trailer for In Fair Palestine.....A Story of Romeo & Juliet. Take a look at what some 10th-12th Palestinian teenagers accomplished. http://www.youtube.com/v/zHNndYQ79nQ&rel=1