March 11–12, 2017
Written by Maxi Obexer
Translated from German by Neil Blackadder
Directed by Kaiser Ahmed
This documentary play by playwright Maxi Obexer addresses the plight of the "illegal helpers" who seek to provide aid and shelter to migrants—even though it is against the law. A powerful insight into a contemporary tragedy that threatens to engulf Western Europe, it provides a sharp look at those who help, and those who callously sit by doing nothing.
Read MoreFebruary 25–26, 2017
Written by Ken Kaissar
Directed by Michael Malek Najjar
Jadi and Bassee live peacefully in an idyllic garden, except that the garden’s alleged owner comes to beat them every day. Jewish American writer David travels to Israel to better understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and is soon mired in the cycles of violence and compassion that haunt everyday life. The Victims weaves together disparate styles and stories to dig into the parallel and often contradictory narratives of Palestinian and Israeli histories.
Performed as part of Semitic Commonwealth
Read MoreFebruary 24–25, 2017
Written by Mona Mansour
Directed by Anna C. Bahow
What do you do when the only way to live is to leave?
Jamila, a studious 17-year-old Palestinian growing up in a refugee camp in southern Lebanon, feverishly prepares for the university exam that is her only way out of the impoverished world she calls home. Urge for Going offers a variety of personalities and perspectives in a searing and funny family story.
Performed as part of Semitic Commonwealth
Read MoreFebruary 18–19, 2017
Written by Ismail Khalidi
Directed by Michael Malek Najjar
Set in Nablus in the spring of 1939, Tennis in Nablus brings to life the last days of the Arab Revolt as the people of Palestine make one final attempt to drive out the British. With deep passion and bold humor, it is a genre-bending look at Palestine's embattled status through the eyes of an unflagging rebel, a tireless polemicist, and an ambitious entrepreneur. With their world igniting around them, this divided family faces their own demons as they seek to achieve peace, freedom, and dignity.
Performed as part of Semitic Commonwealth
Read MoreFebruary 17–18, 2017
Written by Zohar Tirosh-Polk
Directed by Jonathan L. Green
Sonya writes a goodbye letter; Morris makes one fatal decision; Sheila clings and doesn’t let go; and the band rocks on. From Poland to Palestine to Israel and then to the U.S., The Zionists asks: Where is home? What is home? At what price? Who is Herzl? And, most importantly, what’s in the box?
Performed as part of Semitic Commonwealth
Read MoreFebruary 11–12, 2017
Written by Motti Lerner
Directed by Michael Malek Najjar
The Admission is a political drama about the conflicting narratives of the 1948 war. Some called it a war of independence and some called it a catastrophe. Forty years later, a proposal to build on the site of a battle digs up family secrets and stirs tensions between two families, one Jewish and one Palestinian. This work of historical fiction asks how we can move forward toward peace while still wrestling with the ghosts of war.
Performed as part of Semitic Commonwealth
Read MoreFebruary 10–11, 2017
Written by Hannah Khalil
Directed by Jess McLeod
A picnic interrupted by soldiers. Sunbathing in the shadow of a tank. Life can be unpredictable under occupation.
Told with typical Palestinian black humour, Scenes from 69* Years is an epic snapshot of life in Palestine, then and now. Forget suicide belts and stone-hurling youth—here the real human story is revealed: the dreams, humor, sadness, and obstacles of daily life in the shadow of the ‘separation wall.’
Performed as part of Semitic Commonwealth
Read MoreJanuary 23, 2017
Written by Don Nguyen
Directed by Helen Young
Inspired by the true story of a woman in Vietnam who started an AIDS support group, this play blends real life and folklore to reflect on the role of citizens and how they can counter stubborn government officials.
Read MoreJuly 9–10, 2016
Written by Nahal Navidar
Directed by Azar Kazemi
Indian summer delivers hope and light on a gorgeous morning in Brooklyn Heights.
Nasrin, an Iranian American PhD student, and Donovan, an elevator repairman, plan for a bright future together. But when explosions from the other side of the Hudson shake their world, the ashes of fear and hatred quietly creep in and haunt Donovan’s mind. In a post 9/11 xenophobic environment where intolerance is the new status-quo, the couple find themselves questioning whether they will survive the fall.
Read MoreJanuary 30–31, 2016
Written by Amir Nizar Zuabi
Directed by Anna C. Bahow
They came from Damascus, from Aleppo, from Banias—where bombs fall day and night and wounded children look like sleeping angels. Now they live in camps and abandoned buildings in Lebanon and Jordan, as Syria becomes a haunting memory.
A Syrian woman prepares kibbeh in her kitchen, while recounting tales of her vanished lover. Her stories bring to life an ancient land torn apart by a cruel war. Oh My Sweet Land is written by Amir Nizar Zuabi, rising star of the Palestinian theatre.
Read MoreOctober 20, 2015
Written by Jamil Khoury
Directed by Carin Silkaitis
Inspired by the Ground Zero Mosque controversy in New York City, Mosque Alert tells the story of three fictional families living in Naperville, Illinois, whose lives are interrupted by a proposed Islamic Center on the site of a beloved local landmark. Mosque Alert explores the intersections of zoning and Islamophobia with humor, family drama, and refreshingly blunt honesty.
Read MoreAugust 6, 2015
Written by Adriana Sevahn Nichols
Directed by Corey Pond
Spanning from the Ottoman Empire to New York City, and three generations of an Armenian and Dominican family, Adriana Sevahn Nichols' Night Over Erzinga explores how a man can lose everything but his heart, and how a grandmother can reach through time, unearth an untold story, and bring her children “home.” From collective tragedy to personal triumph, ancestors reunite with the living in a breathtakingly beautiful journey toward making peace with the past and reclaiming one’s heritage.
Performed as part of Eastern Christians: Commemorating Genocide, Confronting the Future
Read MoreJune 11–12, 2015
Written by David Rhee
Directed by Steve Scott
Twelve-year-old Sammy Lee watches divers leap gracefully into the public swimming pool and feels an overwhelming desire to try diving himself. But as a Korean American, Sammy (like any person of color) can use the pool only once a week. Young Sammy would never guessed that, sixteen short years later, he would become the first Asian American ever to win Olympic gold.
Read MoreMay 16–17, 2015
Written by A. Rey Pamatmat
Directed by Lavina Jadhwani
An ordinary job interview at a local bookstore becomes much more as store owner Linda and aspiring writer Daniel realize that their connections go far deeper than a shared love of literature. Together they will have have to face the trauma of their past—but can they find forgiveness?
Read MoreJune 28–29, 2014
Written by Robert Myers
Directed by Sandeep Das
By turns comic and appalling, Unmanned dramatizes the lives of two drone operators in a remote desert in the American Southwest—one, a retired male fighter pilot too terrified to fly again; the other, a young female gamer who has never flown. This sets the stage for an exploration of the bizarre and disturbing profession of the military drone “pilot” and the ways in which technology has radically altered contemporary life and warfare.
Read MoreJune 19–20, 2014
Written and Directed by Rana Kazkaz and Anas Khalaf
The Translator tells the story of Sammy, an English-Arabic translator who defected from Syria, and Zaid, his politically active brother who is arrested for peacefully demonstrating against the regime. A fearful Sammy illegally returns to Syria in order to find his brother and in the process discovers his courage.
Read MoreMarch 8–9, 2014
Written by Saadallah Wannous
Translated from Arabic by Robert Myers and Nada Saab
Directed by Sahar Assaf
In 1880s Damascus, two rival clerics are mired in a feud that tears the city apart. Political ambition, religious fundamentalism, and sexual hypocrisy fan the theatrical flames in this blistering critique of patriarchy and power in the Arab world.
Syrian playwright Saadallah Wannous (1941–1997) has been called both the Bertolt Brecht and the Wole Soyinka of the Arab theatre. His plays are to the Arab world what Vaclav Havel’s plays were to the Iron Curtain.
Read MoreFebruary 7–9, 2014
Written by Sheri Winkelmann
Directed by Helen Young
When Sadia travels to India to volunteer with the exiled Tibetan refugee community, she never imagines that she will meet the love of her life. Caught in a whirlwind romance, she returns with new love to America and they quickly marry. Not long after the wedding, Sadia discovers a dark, twisted side to him that eventually threatens her life. Struggling to escape the physical and psychological violence that has become her daily life, she discovers the enlightened Sufi poet Rumi, whose spiritual insights guide her to freedom.
Read MoreJanuary 17–19, 2014
Written by Rohina Malik
Directed by Corey Pond
Meet Abdul Samee: his father is Iraqi and his mother is Puerto Rican. Longing to shed his cultural identity, he changes his name to Sam, marries an American, and does everything in his power to turn his back on his heritage. But when Sam meets Yasmina, a beautiful woman from his father’s homeland, he begins to learn that a tree without roots cannot stand for long.
Read MoreJune 28–30, 2013
Written by Farid ud Din Attar
Adapted by Meena Natarajan
Directed by Dipankar Mukherjee
Conference of the Birds metaphorically maps out the journey of the human ego and the quest for truth. In this classic tale, the birds of the world take flight on a pilgrimage to find their celebrated king, but the dangers and hardships encountered along the way cause many in the flock to abandon their search. In the end the small number of birds that survive uncover a profound secret.
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