Oct 19, 2015: Saw Najla Said perform her one-woman show “Palestine” yesterday at Temple B’rith Kodesh in Rochester, NY. I was familiar with her play based on interviews and clips I had seen online. I was particularly taken by a short sequence I had found on YouTube in which she talks about Arab culture and how the language itself embodies this marvelous warmth and hospitality, this yearning to connect with immediacy. It’s a lovely piece that debunks stereotypes with immense passion and poetry. She sets it up with the caveat of not wanting to be an Orientalist. Obviously 🙂
We showed that clip at Celebrate Palestine last year, an event that launched the Witness Palestine Film Series 2014, where we celebrated Palestinian food, music and literature as a form of resistance to erasure. Najla’s dynamic description of the beautiful intricacies of Arab culture was a perfect fit for that evening.
As I settled down in the front row yesterday, I didn’t know what to expect from the entire play. I was instantly moved by how she greeted us and introduced herself in Arabic, rather than English, before she proceeded with the show. She was animated, poignant, funny, courageous, transparent. Her story is personal but because of the family she grew up in and the rich mix of geographic, cultural, linguistic, ethnic and political contradictions she had to navigate from a very young age, there is much that resonates with many. The show progresses with immense energy, energy that is translated into impressive physicality. There are ups and downs and some wonderfully reflective moments as well. The end is breathtaking. It has a quiet elegance, an emotive power that’s almost surprising. We learned later, during Q&A, that it was the first thing she ever wrote, when she began to write the show. And Edward Said endorsed it enthusiastically 🙂
