Mohamed El Khatib and Israel Galván

ISRAEL & MOHAMED

Conceived and performed by: Mohamed El Khatib and Israel Galván

Set design and artistic collaboration: Fred Hocké

Sound: Pedro León

Technical direction: Pedro León and Fred Hocké

Vídeo: Zacharie Dutertre and Emmanuel Manzano

Costumes: Micol Notarianni

Director of production: Rosario Gallardo and Gil Paon

Production: Zirlib | IGalván Company


Coproduction:

Festival d’Avignon, RomaEuropa Festival, Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, Théâtre de la Ville de Paris, Le Grand T - Théâtre de Loire-Atlantique (Nantes), TNB – Théâtre national de Bretagne (Rennes), TnBA – Théâtre national Bordeaux Aquitaine, Le Volcan scène nationale du Havre, TANDEM scène nationale Arras-Douai, Théâtre Garonne (Toulouse), MC2: Maison de la Culture de Grenoble, Scène nationale de l’Essonne (Evry), Teatro della Pergola (Florence), La Halle aux Grains scène nationale de Blois.


Zirlib is supported by the Ministry of Culture - DRAC Centre-Val de Loire, Région Centre-Val de Loire.

Mohamed El Khatib is an associate artist at the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, the Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, the Théâtre National de Bretagne in Rennes, and the TnBA - Théâtre national Bordeaux Aquitaine.


IGalván Company is supported by the INAEM, Instituto Nacional de las Artes Escénicas y de la Música.

Israel Galván is an associate artist at the Théâtre de la Ville, Paris.

As the name suggests, this show presents a seemingly impossible promise. And yet, it's not as difficult as it was for Israel and Mohamed to learn to negotiate with their parents. Both, nourished by a deeply rooted spirituality and culture, took side paths. On these parallel journeys, Israel and Mohamed discovered they are much more similar than they thought; almost first cousins. They have experienced similar traditions in their families of origin, but also a search for themselves through their bodies—and sometimes even through cruciate ligament injuries. They knew how to make the most of that upbringing to become, each (after having played football for Betis, Sevilla, and PSG), free and happy artists. Happy, we have no doubt. Free, yes, but like 15-year-olds: they still hide to smoke. They don't tell their parents the whole truth, for fear of disappointing them, at an age when they should already be free of family conventions. They do dance and theater, although Mohamed's parents always wanted their son to have a "real job," and Israel's parents wanted him to dance like them. Together, they take advantage of this performance to publicly tell their parents that they love them, but perhaps they would like it if, when the neighbors ask them, "What does your son do?", they could tell the truth. Israel and Mohamed thus review their upbringing, their family archives, and how they learned to dedicate themselves to art with their ever-present parents. They have outlived their families and are now part of the family of art. Learning to live is, ultimately, a work that never stops.

tour dates

France Festival d'Automne / Théâtre de la Ville Paris – 10-2 0 December 2025

Belgium Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, 26 - 30 November 2025Julio

Italy Festival RomaEuropa - 11-12 de November 2025

France Festival d’Avignon – 10 -23 de July 2025 (world premiere) 

©Yohanne Lamoulère / Tendance Floue