Writer Ghassan Kanafani (1936-1972) is widely regarded as one of Palestine’s greatest novelists, writing some of the most admired stories in modern Arabic literature. He was also an intellectual and political activist. His novellas and short stories, now translated into dozens of languages, are considered by many today as having been ahead of their time, both in form and content. Kanafani wrote the novella Returning to Haifa in 1969, a testament not only to Kanafani's principled commitment to the politics of liberation, but also his deep empathy for the 'other' as well as his modern approach to storytelling. Ghassan Kanafani was assassinated by a car bomb in Beirut in 1972 at the age of 36. Kanafani's obituary in Lebanon's The Daily Star wrote that: "He was a commando who never fired a gun, whose weapon was a ball-point pen, and his arena the newspaper pages."

Playwright Naomi Wallace’s plays include In the Heart of America (Bush Theatre), Slaughter City (Royal Shakespeare Company), One Flea Spare (Public Theater, New York City), The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek and Things of Dry Hours (New York Theatre Workshop), The Fever Chart: Three Vision of the Middle East (Public Lab, new York City), And I and Silence (Finborough Theatre and Signature Theatre, New York City) and Night is a Room (Signature Theatre, New York City). Naomi has been awarded the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize twice, the Fellowship of Southern Writers Drama Award, the Obie Award and the Horton Foote Award. She is also a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and a National Endowment for the Arts development grant. In 2013, Naomi received the inaugural Windham Campbell Prize for Drama, and in 2015 an Arts and Letters Award in Literature. Naomi’s play One Flea Spare was recently incorporated in the permanent repertoire of the French National Theatre, the Comédie- Francaise. Only two American playwrights have been added to La Comédie’s repertoire in 300 years, the other is Tennessee Williams.

Playwright Ismail Khalidi was born in Beirut and raised in the United States. His plays include Truth Serum Blues and Sabra Falling (Pangea World Theater, Minneapolis), Tennis in Nablus (Alliance Theatre, Atlanta) and Foot (Teatro Amal, Chile). His writing has appeared in numerous anthologies as well as in The Nation, Guernica, American Theatre, Mizna and Remezcla. Ismail co-edited (with Naomi Wallace) Inside/Outside: Six Plays from Palestine and the Diaspora. He is currently under commission from Noor Theatre and Actors Theatre of Louisville and is a visiting artist with Teatro Amal in Chile.

“A moving confrontation between two sets of displaced people and an utterly unsentimental exploration of the complexities of home, history and parenthood.” Michael Billlington, The Guardian

“As quietly shattering as it is gently complex.” Matt Trueman, WhatsOnStage

“An important work that is more healing than divisive. Thought-provoking.” Jeff Prestridge, Close Up Culture

“It works on several levels: as a poignant family drama, as a plea for Israeli-Palestinian understanding and as a warning of what will follow without some form of reconciliation.” Michael Billlington, The Guardian

“It humanises enemies and explains motives. And the sensitive portrayals by the ensemble add to emotional impact.” Paul in London

“Directed with aplomb by Caitlin McLeod…. Required viewing. Catch it if you can.” Jeff Prestridge, Close Up Culture

“Bringing this important voice to the stage this anniversary year could not be more timely.” Judi Herman, Jewish Renaissance

“At a moment when borders and barriers are hardening, Returning to Haifa's a reminder that once a curtain comes down, it can't just be re-opened.” Matt Trueman, WhatsOnStage

“Leila Ayad and Ethan Kai make a sunny young couple on the cusp of catastrophe.” Matt Trueman, WhatsOnStage

“A delightful Marlene Sidaway.” Jeff Prestridge, Close Up Culture

“Ammar Haj Ahmad, in crumpled white suit, is suitably forceful as Said.” Michael Billlington, The Guardian

“Ethan Kai doubles effectively as both his younger self and his grown-up son.” Michael Billlington, The Guardian

“Ethan Kai works miracles in distinguishing his young Said from his rather scary Dov.” Jeff Prestridge, Close Up Culture

“Marlene Sidaway plays Miriam with calm dignity.” Michael Billlington, The Guardian

“Marlene Sidaway and Myriam Acharki give strong heartfelt performances.” Jeff Prestridge, Close Up Culture

“Caitlin McLeod imaginatively directs the actors through the space.” Emily Harrison, The Upcoming

“Caitlin McLeod’s production and Rosie Elnile’s design cleverly embody the play’s central theme.” Michael Billlington, The Guardian

“Rosie Elnile's design that does most of the work – an exceptional example of thinking through space.” Matt Trueman, WhatsOnStage

“The set by Rosie Elnile is marvellous.” Jeff Prestridge, Close Up Culture

“Rosie Elnile’s ingenious set design.” Emily Harrison, The Upcoming

“Bravo Finborough for being bold and brave.” Jeff Prestridge, Close Up Culture

“Returning to Haifa leaves you wondering how many more individual stories are left untold.” Emily Harrison, The Upcoming

“Commissioned by New York’s Public Theater, this play never reached the stage because of pressure from the board. They missed a trick because it is a powerful and disturbing piece now receiving its belated premiere.” Michael Billlington, The Guardian

“Its call for reciprocal awareness and acknowledgement of past injustice seems more necessary than ever.” Michael Billlington, The Guardian

“Timely.” Sepy Baghaei, London Pub Theatres

“Fiery and emotional.” Paul in London

"She speaks to, and for, the body as eloquently as any American writer since Walt Whitman." American Theatre

"Absolutely compelling theatre." Evening Standard on The Fever Chart

"A shudderingly poetic meditation on the implacability of death and the universality of mourning." The Scotsman on The Fever Chart

"A taut, beautifully written elegy and it reaches out to us now like a prophecy." The Observer on The Fever Chart

“Complicated people with believable motivations that lead to unbelievable actions. And it’s a pleasure to hear intelligent debate about religion” Time Out Chicago

“Bunin’s effortless emotional accuracy is marvellously captured” Chicago Free Press

"A beautifully crafted work of art that balances the Lebanese-born playwright’s passion for the politics of his homeland with a playful and irreverent comedic sensibility" Wendell Brock, Atlanta Journal Constitution on Tennis in Nablus

"Writing with an ear for contemporary language and a delightful sense of the absurd...Khalidi defuses the solemnity of his story by masking it with comedic zest. And yet he never negates the horror of the final twist." Wendell Brock, Atlanta Journal Constitution on Tennis in Nablus

“[Khalidi's] beautiful writing ranges from a kind of hip-hop spoken word to a Greek chorus to chilling hallucinatory interrogations.” Lydia Howell, Pulse on Truth Serum Blues

On And I And Silence at the Finborough Theatre

★★★★★ The Times, The Guardian, Financial Times, Time Out, WhatsOnStage, Evening Standard, Shortlisted for an Off-West End Award - Best New Play, Time Out Critics’ Choice, Evening Standard Critics’ Choice, named one of Lyn Gardner's Best Plays of 2011

“UNMISSABLE.” Lyn Gardner, The Guardian

“Wise and powerful.” Ian Shuttleworth, Financial Times

“Director Caitlin McLeod has fashioned an intense, gripping production… a potent reminder of the unbeatable power of theatre.” Evening Standard

On And I And Silence at the Signature Theatre, New York City –

“Gracefully directed by Caitlin McLeod.” Time Out New York

“A typically first-class production by the Signature, with the director Caitlin McLeod.” Charles Isherwood, The New York Times

“Under Caitlin McLeod's direction, the four actresses infuse Wallace's work with deep feeling. [A] stark, elegiac drama.” The New Yorker

On BRENDA

★★★★★ The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Stage, Female Arts

“Visionary and magical.” The Telegraph

“It tells you the truth about what it means to be alive.” Huffington Post, Top Picks 2015