Bridging the Diaspora Divide with Stephen Orlov and Samah Sabawi

Hosted by Arthur Milner

In Person Fiction Big Ideas History Film/Stage

Admission

Free

Sunday

Apr , 2017

2:00pm

Eastern

Christ Church Cathedral

414 Sparks St. • Ottawa

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Bridging the Diaspora Divide with Stephen Orlov and Samah Sabawi

The plays in Double Exposure insist that we examine the injustice, insanity and despair wrought by the occupation of Palestine. This diverse mix of dramatic styles and voices is a brave, passionate and collective call, a theatrical catalyst for investigation and resistance.

Eve Ensler

Playwrights Stephen Orlov and Samah Sabawi discuss their groundbreaking anthology, Double Exposure: Plays of the Jewish and Palestinian Diasporas, the first English-language anthology in any genre of prose, poetry or drama by Jewish and Palestinian writers worldwide; with scene readings by actors.

Books available for purchase at every event: Proceeds support our free children’s literacy programs.

The Authors

Samah Sabawi

Samah Sabawi is an award winning poet and playwright. Her critically acclaimed play Tales Of A City By The Sea (Currency Press 2016) had a sold-out premiere season at La Mama in 2014, a sold out remount season in 2016 followed by a national Australian tour and an international performance season at Kuala Lumpur in 2017. The play was selected for the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) Drama Playlist and won two Drama Victoria awards for best new Australian publication and best performance by a theatre company for VCE. Samah Sabawi’s poems feature in various poetry books and publications including WITH OUR EYES WIDE OPEN (West End Press 2014) and GAZA UNSILENCED (Just World Books 2015). Her poetry anthology I Remember My Name, won the 2016 Palestine Book Awards. Samah Sabawi is co-editor of Double Exposure: Plays of the Jewish and Palestinian Diasporas (Playwrights Canada Press 2016). She is policy advisor for the Palestine policy network Al-Shabaka and a former director of the National Council on Canada Arab Relations. Samah Sabawi is winner of the Australian Muslim Achievement Awards for Creative Artist of the year, and was recently named Cultural Ambassador for the Melbourne Theatre Company and Multicultural Arts Victoria. Samah Sabawi is a PhD candidate at Victoria University in Australia.

Stephen Orlov

Stephen Orlov is a Boston-born award-winning dramatist based in Montreal, whose plays have been showcased in such theatre centres as Chicago and London. He co-edited with Samah Sabawi, Double Exposure, the first English-language anthology in any genre by Jewish and Palestinian writers worldwide. His plays include, Freeze, recently published by Guernica Editions, Isolated Incident, Bow Ties and his dual-diaspora trilogy of Salaam-Shalom, Sperm Count and Birthmark. Stephen teaches masterclasses on play-writing and script-adaptation and recently served on the Executives of Playwrights Guild of Canada and Playwrights Canada Press.