48 Minutes in Palestine

On Thursday, Betsy and I went to the Royal Cultural Center to see the play "48 Minutes in Palestine." From what we had heard the play would be in ammiyya. We made sure to arrive plenty early. Our previous experiences dictated that if we didn't arrive early enough we would end up sitting on the floor. So, in the 30 minutes before the start of the play while waiting for the doors to open, Betsy and I glanced through the play's program while doing some people watching. The most eventful site was a man with a comb-over/ mullet- you can use your imagination. Needless to say, I took at picture on my phone. At about 5 minutes until the posted start time, people began crowding around the door. We took the hint and joined the crowd. When the doors opened, we weaved through so as to secure two of the seats that had backs- the rest were simply benches. After finding our seats, we waited a few minutes for the play to start. 

As it turns out, the play was not in Jordanian ammiyya. It wasn't in fousha. In fact, there were no words at all. In the end, however, the play was more powerful in its silence. The opening scene involved a woman sitting on a mat on the floor (her bed) writing in a journal. Surrounding her was a circle of rocks which depicted the boundaries of her house. In addition to the mat, she had a chair, a backgammon board, a basket of fruit and a flower growing out of a pile of rocks. A minute or two into the play, a weary looking older man arrives outside her house and wanders in. She gives him much needed water. After drinking the water, the man presents the woman with a piece of paper- a marriage contract. Metaphorically, the contract represented the British White Paper. She is immediately displeased and drags his suitcase out of the house. He brings it back in and this struggle continues. Finally, the man wins and begins unpacking his suitcase and scattering his belongs around the house. She tries to put his things back in his suitcase. In essence, the play continues like this. There are struggles back and forth for power. Little by little, the man wins more space in the house. The woman is relentless in her struggle. She refuses to accept the arrangement. Every time the man takes more space or does something unjust, you just want to yell out for her- to help her. Each time the woman would retaliate at the man, the audience would applaud for her. The play ended, 48 minutes later, with the woman standing defiantly outside of her house on the pile of rocks where her flower used to be. The man is inside with all of her former belongings. I enjoyed the play. I enjoyed listening to the crowds reactions. The silence was powerful. I wanted to call out on her behalf- the man was being such a bully!