Loading ...Student play aims to explore Palestinian roots
Heidi Hill
University of Tennessee: The Daily Beacon
A two meter high, barbed-wire fence has divided Israel and Palestine since 2002, but for Summer Awad, senior in College Scholars, this barrier serves as a symbol of Palestinian resistance and a link to her own heritage in Palestine.
A native of Knoxville, Awad will debut her thesis-turned-play, “WALLS: A Play For Palestine,” tomorrow as a finalist in the Henley Rose Playwright Competition for Women.
“I decided to submit it last minute, but there were 200 submissions from the U.S., Canada, Germany and Australia and I got to the Top 15,” Awad said. “I didn’t win for second or third place, but I thought it was a pretty cool accomplishment for my first play.”
Awad said her work is more of a reflection of her own journey in navigating between her American and Palestine roots — much like her play’s protagonist.
Rules against school dances, wearing two piece swim suits and dating were among the American culture clashes experienced by Awad that appear in her playwright debut.
“It was difficult growing up in between those two places, so the play is really an exploration of what it’s like growing up in the in between — which I think is an experience that a lot of people have, even if they’re not biracial or a second generation,” Awad said.
“WALLS” first developed during Awad’s sophomore year following her work on the production of UT’s annual performance of Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues.” It was Ensler’s format and first-hand interviews, Awad said, that jumpstarted a significant interest in penning a play for the Palestinian voices she felt were missing from mainstream media.
But after a trip to interview Palestinian refugees living in Jordan, Awad realized a personal touch was needed to give her work-in-progress the emotional weight it needed.
“I realized that what I’m good at is writing very personal things and I needed to put my own experiences as a Palestinian-American into the play,” Awad said. “So, the play turned out to be kind of an exploration of my identity, my relationship to Palestine and also my relationship to my Palestinian Muslim dad (while) raising awareness for the Palestinian occupation.”
To materialize the “in-between,” Awad turned to Amany Alshibli, sophomore in chemical engineering, to design the play’s backdrop by using images of the Israeli-Palestine wall from online galleries.
To Alshibli, the graffiti accumulated over the last decade was key in emphasizing the frustration experienced by Palestinians and Awad’s characters while drawing from her own memories.
“It was a privilege, really, to use those original art works because the designs weren’t original and were all from online,” Alshibli said. “For me, this was a way for me to put myself in the shoes of the Palestinian people.”
Over Winter Break, Alshibli and Awad built the sets for three straight days, selecting specific images that connected the walls’ original graffiti to the fictional characters and lines in “WALLS.”
But it was Awad’s dedication, Alshibli said, that helped her stay focused on the project by blending the written word with powerful visuals.
“It was incredible to hear Summer talk about her process and how she was able to use it to process to her situation and background growing up, and (for) me … to express that visually and see how they depicted (the artists’) emotions or beliefs,” Alshibli said.
“It’s easy to get bogged down by the news and the injustice, but there’s a real joy when you get to process that in a visual manner and come to terms with what’s happening the world.”
Awad said the wall represents both a physical barrier between Israelis and Palestinians and a psychological barrier for second generation immigrants, like herself, to connect with family members two continents away.
Such a disconnect, Awad said, is augmented by recent terrorist attacks and the United States’ traditionally pro-Israel stance when handling conflict in the Gaza Strip and Middle East.
“There’s this idea that Arabs and Muslims are completely different from the rest of the world, from the West,” Awad said. “One of the books I’ve been reading is called “The Question of Palestine”by Edward Saeed and he talks about how the West managed to view Palestine and Middle East as the “other” and make it seem like they don’t exist.”
Yet, Awad said her family’s support and accepted invitations to her play’s opening prompts hope for a stronger relationship with her father.
“I’ve told him that it explores what our relationship was like growing up, but I don’t think he fully understands what that means,” she said. “I’m trying to leave it vague enough so that he’ll come to the play.”
Still, Awad’s ultimate hope for the “WALLS” is for audience members to explore the traditional stance against Palestine and systemic fear of Islam, perpetuated by the “narrative that is given to them by the American media.”
“I want people to question their assumptions and just realize that Palestinians are humans.”
Source: www.utdailybeacon.com