By Mary Barghout
William Nour, playwright and 2018 recipient of a Minnesota State Arts Board grant for his play “Turbulence,” has been a central figure in the Minnesota writing scene for over a decade. A familiar face at events from writing group meetings to Mizna’s Arab Film Festival, his presence and support for fellow writers has been appreciated by many for years. Recently his play produced through the Playwright Incubator Program of New Arab American Theater Works, was performed at the Mixed Blood theater in Minneapolis, with its final performance to a packed house on Sunday October 6th.
Rosette, directed by Taous Khazem, was a play that focused on the intricacies of family life and relationships and this proved to be its strength. From heated intergenerational disconnections that highlighted differences in experience and values to moments of humor and levity shining through and reminding the audience that despite injustice and seemingly impossible circumstances, it is the people around us that lift us up and carry our hearts forward.
This through line of optimism in the face of struggle was brought home by the tremendous performances of the actors and their ability to bring vitality and realness to their individual characters, making them human and relatable. From the fiery and tense pronouncements of matriarch Ida, portrayed by Claudia Veronica Garcia, to Ahmed Elewa’s characterisations of Yusef tip-toeing around the moods of his wife and offering to make her the “best cup of coffee” as a peace offering.
There was something so familiar about the small scenes and exchanges between characters, and this is another area where Nour’s incredible writing shined through. In magnifying a small story it allows for more people to engage in more meaningful ways rather than leveraging a larger scaled all encompassing scope. In the conversations around a game of backgammon or trying to avoid getting called out for being too loud and “always yelling”. Here, within a particular Palestinian family we find many things that resonate with anyone from any type of family. In Laila Sahir’s portrayal of the titular Rosette, we can see much of the aspiration and dreams of any adolescence, while also understanding the larger socio-political dynamics that made her transition into adulthood particularly challenging.
Nour’s ability to flush out the power of the personal in his storytelling is something that fellow playwright Milo Cramer, is also able to leverage in the show he is also the sole performer in, Class Pictures.
Making its Minnesota debut at Theater Latte Da in a run from February 5th to March 2nd, School Pictures focuses in on the lives and learnings of individual teenagers. Cramer, a former tutor, leverages and leans into lived experiences and brings thoughtfulness and a profound sense of the importance of untestable character development in a test score centered world, to the stage. Named in Vulture magazine’s best theater of 2023 list, it offers a chance for attendees to reexamine their relationships not only with learning and education but also in extending grace to the fellow confused travelers, often stumbling through their own learning curves, in this shared experience of life.
As the play’s tagline states, “learning’s not a moment, it’s a process” and through the musical performance, we hear from the show’s single performer stories of student life that expand out beyond those individual lives. The struggles may be familiar, or might not be, but in telling these small stories, Cramer is creating much needed space for humor and heart while pointing out the rubble in the imperfect roads to understanding. It is here, in these smaller stage performances, with either a small or single person cast, we are able to find stories that matter and also time to reflect on our own journeys and the ways we can show up better, with perhaps more consideration for each other.
More information on the organizations mentioned can be found at the following websites:
New Arab Theater Works: newarabamericantheaterworks.org
Mizna: mizna.org
Theater Latte Da: https://www.latteda.org/