The play — a powerful evocation of a “conflict…where two sides can be clearly right" — launches the first season of a new company, People’s Theatre of Seattle
SEATTLE— People’s Theatre of Seattle, a new theatre company, presents 16 Wounded, a play about war and reconciliation written by Eliam Kraiem and directed by Michelle Haines. Performances are Thursday to Sunday nights at Open Circle Theatre, 2222 2nd Avenue in Belltown, from June 3-13, 2010. The opening night performance is June 4 at 8 pm. Tickets for 16 Wounded are $15 and can be purchased fromwww.brownpapertickets.com.
Set in Amsterdam in the early 1990s, Sixteen Wounded examines the human side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Combining political argument, comedy and romance, the play explores the ramifications of a fateful collision that has brought together two very different men: Hans, a baker and a Jewish Holocaust survivor, and Mahmoud, a passionate young Palestinian who becomes his apprentice. After an act of violence sets their unlikely friendship in motion, the two struggle with identity and loyalty to their beliefs as well as each other. The play is a provocative and poignant exploration of the intricate roots of hatred, love and friendship.
The cast includes Zaki Abdelhamid (Mahmoud), Drew Hobson (Ashraf), Devin Kearns (Nora), Hanafi Libman (Hans) and Walayn Sharples(Sonya).
The tension between Jews and Arabs is “good conflict for a play is where two sides can be clearly right," playwright Eliam Kraiem said in a 2003 interview with The New York Times, which declared that 16 Wounded “could be the most provocative drama of the spring.” The play opened on Broadway in April 2004 (with a cast featuring Judd Hirsch, Jan Maxwell, Omar Metwally and Martha Plimpton) after having its world premiere at Long Wharf Theatre the previous year.
People’s Theatre of Seattle is a theatre company committed to building and strengthening our community by producing theatre that will start a dialogue about the issues that affect us as a community and as human beings. Founded by actors Zaki Abdelhamid and Devin Kearns, the company promotes the free exchange of beliefs and ideas, in that hope that theatre will inspire all parties involved to take a more active role in improving the world we live in. more information can be found at www.peoplestheatreseattle.org
This production is supported by a grant from the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs.
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