India blocks visas for pro-Palestine Israeli troupe

NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — An Israeli theatre troupe known for its pro-Palestinian work was barred from performing at a major international theatre festival in India after Indian authorities denied visas to its members, forcing the cancellation of two scheduled shows and prompting accusations of political censorship.

The troupe was due to perform The Last Play in Gaza at the International Theatre Festival of Kerala, a state-backed cultural event that draws artists from across the world. The play explores contemporary Palestinian theatre and memory and revisits The Emigrants, the final production staged at Gaza’s Theatre for Everybody before the venue was destroyed during Israeli bombardment.

The production is directed by Einat Weizman, an Israeli documentary theater director and actor whose work has previously faced restrictions in Israel for its critical engagement with occupation and state violence.

According to Weizman, visa applications for the troupe were submitted nearly two months in advance. Indian authorities later requested a detailed synopsis of the play, which was provided. Despite this, the visas were denied, with no formal explanation offered.

In a public statement, Weizman rejected suggestions that the episode was the result of bureaucratic delay, describing it instead as deliberate political obstruction. 

She said the troupe received what was described as an “approval in principle” during an appeal process, but no visas were ultimately issued. On the day of the scheduled performances, she said she was prevented from even entering the Indian embassy in Israel.

“This is not bureaucracy,” Weizman wrote. “This is part of an erasure mechanism — first Gaza is erased, then its documentation, then the voices that speak about it, and finally the play that reconstructs what was erased is prevented from reaching the stage.”

The director noted that the play has never been permitted to be staged in Israel or the occupied Palestinian territories, and said the visa denial meant it could not be performed in India either.

Festival organizers confirmed that the performances scheduled for Tuesday were cancelled because the troupe could not travel to India. They said the shows would be staged if the group manages to arrive before the festival concludes; otherwise, ticket holders would be refunded.

Officials at Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi, which organizes the festival, said political clearance had been obtained from India’s Union Ministry of Home Affairs, but the visa decision remained unresolved at the embassy level.

In place of the cancelled performances, festival organizers held an evening of solidarity dedicated to the absent play. Weizman acknowledged the gesture, saying the act of solidarity itself became a form of performance, underscoring the themes of absence and silencing that the play addresses.

The festival, themed Voices in the Silence, was intended to present the production to an international audience after nearly a year of disruptions caused by Israel’s war on Gaza.

“The play did not reach India,” Weizman wrote. “But the story did.”