A Play About Palestinians in Israel--the Living and the Dead

Asel Asleh and fellow "Seeds of Peace"

"It explores what it means to be a Palestinian inside Israel, which is in many ways different from being a Palestinian in the West Bank or Gaza." Her play is similar to a documentary, Marlowe said, in that she didn't create any of the dialogue between the young man and his sister--it's all based on her own interviews with the family, emails he left behind, and transcripts from the Israeli inquiry into the incident.

There Is A Field opens this week for a short run in Seattle, September 30 to October 3, at Capitol Hill's Shoebox Theatre (1404 18th Avenue). The timing marks the tenth anniversary of what Palestinians living in Israel refer to as "Black October." Marlowe explains the tragic history:

As the second Intifada erupted in the West Bank and Gaza, demonstrations also began in Arab villages inside Israel. In October 2000, twelve Palestinian citizens of Israel were killed in these demonstrations by Israeli security forces. One of those killed was a seventeen-year-old boy named Asel Asleh. He was shot point blank in the neck by Israeli police at a demonstration outside his village.

Asel, a participant in a peace program called Seeds of Peace, was wearing a Seeds of Peace T-shirt at the time of his killing and was buried in it. Marlowe has chosen to tell the story of Asel’s life and his death from the perspective of his older sister, Nardin. The play opens with Asel's death, and then explores Asel's idealism in light of the bitterness and grief Nardin feels, as she weighs her own commitment to seeking peace.

The play's title is taken from a line by Rumi. Asel referenced it once as he was struggling to make sense of his obligations, his duties: "Out beyond ideas of right-doing and wrong-doing, there is a field. I'll meet you there."

In Seattle, six actors will perform a semi-staged version, reading from scripts to highlight that fact that, as Marlowe says, "every word in the play was said or written by someone." Meanwhile, this is just one part of a "theatrical call to action" that Marlowe is spearheading. As of last week, 30 performances and readings of the play were planned in 15 countries (and in eight languages).

One is taking place in Derry, Ireland, because some Bloody Sunday families feel a kinship between their stories and that of Asel's family. This is the larger context of the play, what it means to be a marginal population at "home," the suspicion and police brutality, the competing cultural claims and loyalties. After each performance, there will be a discussion hosted by a Palestinian who grew up in Israel.