Genre and running time: drama; 90 minutes
Synopsis: In this historical-to-contemporary drama, an idealistic Israeli in his 80s pays a surprised visit to an all-business scientist and her family in the United States because he believes the scientist to be the daughter of a long-lost friend. He is confronted with a less-than-ideal greeting, however, when the scientist is no longer able to suppress her locked-up feelings of having grown up in a Palestinian refugee camp as the result of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the 1940s.
Character breakdown (4W; 3M):
JONATHAN HAR'EL – male, 20s and 80s (Jewish, Ashkenazik)
MIRIAM – female, 20s (Jewish, Ashkenazik)
ZAREFAH – female, 20s (Palestinian Muslim)
SAED – male, 20s (Palestinian Muslim) – family friend of Miriam
MARIAM AL-ISAM – female, 50s (Palestinian Muslim) – daughter of Saed
RUTH GREEN – female, 20s (Jewish, Ashkenazik)
MUBARAK AL-ISAM – male, 50s (Palestinian Muslim)
Also: RADIO ANNOUNCERS and RADIO VOICES IN THE BACKGROUND
Jonathan Har’el can be played by the same actor at each age.
Miriam and Ruth Green can be played by the same actor.
Musical Pieces: “Em Mariam’s Lullaby” music by Julie Harris. Additional music written for scene changes is available (studio recorded), composed by Julie Harris. “Hatikva”.
Set requirements: Scenes include four living rooms and a laboratory, which can be done with a sparse set.
Intended Audience: Anyone
Content/language: No foul language; minimal Hebrew and Arabic.
Production History: Unproduced
Seeking: Script reading; stage reading