1997
Before the theatre had a name
Four young men from Hebron working with children under the Theatre Days projects, learning in the field what they would later build on.
Who we are: a story
that began in Hebron's schools
A theatre in Hebron run by a small team: eleven years inside the schools before we had a name, and since 2008 a stage of our own and eight new productions a year. From the first day we have worked on one thing — that a child should grow up with a voice, and know how to use it.
We began before we had a name: eleven years of work in Hebron's schools came before we were founded
Our team met in 1997 in theatre workshops inside Hebron's schools, run under projects of the Theatre Days Foundation. When the foundation withdrew from the city, the team stayed where it was. In 2008 we declared Yes Theatre, an independent organisation licensed by the ministries of the Interior and of Culture.
Theatre is no luxury in a city like this one — it is how a child gets their voice back
Our watchword is that prevention is better than cure. We work under the Drama for All programme: performances for children, workshops where children write their own plays and perform them for their peers, and the first puppet theatre in Hebron. And we train teachers and counsellors to use drama inside the classroom, alongside a team of psychologists.
18
years of unbroken work
+8
new productions every year
+30,000
children at our shows each year
No theatre without an audience,
and none of it without support
We depend on the support of individuals more than we ever have. Your donation keeps the seats full.
Our story: how Hebron
came to have a theatre
Years of performances and workshops, of doors that closed and others we opened with our own hands.
2007
A decision to stay
When Theatre Days withdrew from Hebron, its local team chose to carry on alone. That October, Yes Theatre was announced at the Palestinian Child's House.
2008
Yes, officially
Yes Theatre was founded as a Palestinian non-profit, giving Hebron — the largest city in the West Bank — its first and only professional theatre.
2011
The art and the living
We began working in cultural entrepreneurship, believing that an artist needs something to live on in order to stay an artist.
2012
The first road abroad
Fourteen nights of performances in France of Always the Same Problem, and the first European audience to hear Hebron's story from its own people.
2014
Three in One
A work written by three of our founders out of conversations with the people of the city. It toured France and won a prize at the Milan International Festival.
2015
A place on stage for the pain
The drama therapy programme began with children released from detention, in partnership with the Swiss Romande Health Centre.
2016
Hebron's first puppet theatre
The puppetry department opened, and women came into it as makers and puppeteers, and the little ones had a show cut to their own size.
2019
Eight prizes, and a door closing
In November we took eight prizes at the Theatre Without Production festival in Alexandria. In December we were evicted from a building we had occupied since 1997.
2020-2023
Hard years
We lost our building, then the pandemic came, then what came after it. And we did not stop.
2024
The psychological support widens
We launched an expanded mental-health-through-drama project, reaching from Hebron to Gaza.
2026
And today
The door is still open, and the stage is still waiting for a child to say yes.
