Raphael Rodan
Sahand and Raphael have been working together for many years. They have a strong connection as friends and artistic partners and that brings their performances to the next level of sincerity.
Raphael Rodan grew up in Galilee in Israel. Since his childhood, he was surrounded by stories demonizing “the Other”: on the one hand, stories from his grandmother who was sent to Auschwitz because she was born into a Jewish family, on the other hand, the stories of his Palestinian neighbours, just across the border, only 30 kilometers away from his house. All those stories put people in “boxes” and Raphael constantly wanted to rebel against it. Discovering theater was a great gift. He graduated in 2008 from the School of Speech and Drama in Harduf in Israel, and then continued his studies in Actors’ Temple in London. Later on, he worked in Israel as a theater director for Arab and Jewish young actors, using theater as a bridge for communication. In theatre he found an art form through which he could challenge people and their beliefs, he could touch people, and make them identify with someone who has a completely different lifestyle and way of thinking. That is exactly what he wants to do with Sons of Abraham. Besides that, Raphael continues to perform throughout the continent, and teaches storytelling workshops.
“A refugee does not exist, it is just a term coined by our mind. Under this term are people who are imperfect but beautiful just like everyone else. The public must feel how they could have been a refugee under other circumstances.”