Four Arab American Plays - by Michael Malek Najjar (Paperback)

About the Book

"Book is the first published collection of plays by contemporary Arab American playwrights. A preface by Arab American scholar Michael Malek Najjar and a new essay titled "Towards an Arab American Theatre Movement" by Silk Road Rising's artistic director, Jamil Khoury are included--a valuable expression of Arab American life and theatre in the United States"--

Book Synopsis

Four Arab American Plays is the first published collection of plays by contemporary Arab American playwrights. Based on true stories from her life as the daughter of a Lebanese mother and American diplomat father, Leila Buck's ISite invites the audience on an intimate journey in search of identity, home, and the space in between. Jamil Khoury's drama Precious Stones boldly examines the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the "safe" yet turbulent terrain of the American Diaspora. Yussef El Guindi's Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat is a darkly humorous and sensual look at identity, media-representation, love and lust in the Arab American community. In Lameece Issaq and Jacob Kader's Food and Fadwa, a Palestinian family living under occupation fights to hold onto their culture and traditions while still celebrating love, joy and hope. A preface by Arab American scholar Michael Malek Najjar and a new essay titled "Towards an Arab American Theatre Movement" by Silk Road Rising's artistic director, Jamil Khoury, concludes the book--a valuable expression of Arab American life and theatre in the United States.

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Review Quotes

"this volume and the work of the artists it features serves as a good example of arts activism among a generation of professional Arab American theater artists in the U.S. in the 21st century"-Mashriq & Mahjar.

About the Author

Michael Malek Najjar is an associate professor of theatre arts at the University of Oregon. He lives in Eugene, Oregon.