Review
"Inside/Outside: Six Plays from Palestine and the Diaspora is evidence that theatre makers, inside Palestine and within the diaspora, are providing critical alternatives to restrained and distorted media narratives, which present Palestinians solely as victims, terrorists, or as individuals without agency except in relation to Israel.... Their work holds valuable lessons for students of Palestinian history, theatre-makers writ large, and advocates of Palestinian liberation. Most importantly, they remind us of Edward Said’s dictum that Palestinians do need not 'permission to narrate' their own lives, histories, and futures." - Muftah
"Certainly to write theater about Palestine as a Palestinian is itself an act of resistance or subversion in a political climate where speech on Palestine is limited and even taboo. But there is a long history of theater that challenges power structures and conventions, and this book is, we hope, an example of that kind of work." - Ismail Khalidi (co-editor of Inside/Outside) from an interview with Muftah
"Inside/Outside is an important addition to the dramatic theatre canon... It boldly declares that there is such a thing as a Palestinian playwright and that Palestinianness can be claimed no matter where playwrights were born or in which language they write... These plays, though varied in their dramaturgical styles and geographic origins, provide valuable insights into Palestinian artists at this point in history.... Plays like these can go a long way toward counteracting the seemingly endless litany of negative narratives that pervade the media regarding Palestine." - Michael Malek Najjar, Arab Stages
"...the six beautiful plays in this edited volume are a valuable contribution to Palestine Studies and to Middle Eastern Studies in general. The book will also appeal to students of non-western theatre and drama, and will provide a valuable source for theatre researchers. These...eloquent and playable translations would offer directors, artists and actors the opportunity to stage these Palestinian texts, whether 'inside' or 'outside' Palestine." - Hala Nassar, Arab Stages
"This collection is remarkable for more than doubling the corpus of Palestinian plays in English, for encompassing both homeland and diaspora Palestinian writers, and for coming to print within a US theatre culture that’s seen more censorship than promotion of Palestinian concerns... Its varieties in content and style offer readers a provocative sampling of strategies of representing Palestine’s fraught past and present." - Kate Wilson, Arablit.org
"From the opening by the editors to the introduction by the Nathalie Handal, we are reminded that Palestinian expression, whether over identity, state rights or cultural production has often been rendered taboo before it even sees the light of day." - Middle East Monitor
"The plays in Inside/Outside have incredible wit and beautiful use of language between them." - Ellen McAteer, The Electronic Intifada and Green Left Weekly
"Inside/Outside: Six Plays from Palestine and the Diaspora is evidence that theatre makers, inside Palestine and within the diaspora, are providing critical alternatives to restrained and distorted media narratives, which present Palestinians solely as victims, terrorists, or as individuals without agency except in relation to Israel.... Their work holds valuable lessons for students of Palestinian history, theatre-makers writ large, and advocates of Palestinian liberation. Most importantly, they remind us of Edward Said’s dictum that Palestinians do need not 'permission to narrate' their own lives, histories, and futures." - Muftah
"Certainly to write theater about Palestine as a Palestinian is itself an act of resistance or subversion in a political climate where speech on Palestine is limited and even taboo. But there is a long history of theater that challenges power structures and conventions, and this book is, we hope, an example of that kind of work." - Ismail Khalidi (co-editor of Inside/Outside) from an interview with Muftah
"Inside/Outside is an important addition to the dramatic theatre canon... It boldly declares that there is such a thing as a Palestinian playwright and that Palestinianness can be claimed no matter where playwrights were born or in which language they write... These plays, though varied in their dramaturgical styles and geographic origins, provide valuable insights into Palestinian artists at this point in history.... Plays like these can go a long way toward counteracting the seemingly endless litany of negative narratives that pervade the media regarding Palestine." - Michael Malek Najjar, Arab Stages
"...the six beautiful plays in this edited volume are a valuable contribution to Palestine Studies and to Middle Eastern Studies in general. The book will also appeal to students of non-western theatre and drama, and will provide a valuable source for theatre researchers. These...eloquent and playable translations would offer directors, artists and actors the opportunity to stage these Palestinian texts, whether 'inside' or 'outside' Palestine." - Hala Nassar, Arab Stages
"This collection is remarkable for more than doubling the corpus of Palestinian plays in English, for encompassing both homeland and diaspora Palestinian writers, and for coming to print within a US theatre culture that’s seen more censorship than promotion of Palestinian concerns... Its varieties in content and style offer readers a provocative sampling of strategies of representing Palestine’s fraught past and present." - Kate Wilson, Arablit.org
"From the opening by the editors to the introduction by the Nathalie Handal, we are reminded that Palestinian expression, whether over identity, state rights or cultural production has often been rendered taboo before it even sees the light of day." - Middle East Monitor
"The plays in Inside/Outside have incredible wit and beautiful use of language between them." - Ellen McAteer, The Electronic Intifada and Green Left Weekly
About the Author
Naomi Wallace (editor) is an American playwright whose plays include One Flea Spare, The Fever Chart and The Liquid Plain. Ms. Wallace is a current Residency One playwright at Signature Theatre in New York. She divides her time between England and the U.S. (2015-04-07)
Ismail Khalidi (editor) is a Palestinian American poet and playwright. His plays include Tennis in Nablus, Truth Serum Blues and Sabra Falling. Mr. Khalidi was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and received his MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He lives in Chile. (2015-04-07)
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
“These plays are a cosmos of mindscapes, vast and varied in beauty, theme, style and form... And despite their multiplicity in accents, cultures and nationalities, they have an unyielding collective voice.” - Nathalie Handal, from the Introduction (2015-07-24)
