ANBARA, a Palestinian writer and the wife of Yusef Al Qudsi. She is modern but not necessarily Western. She is never melodramatic or sentimental, thirties
YUSEF, a notorious Palestinian rebel. He is old school. He has a swagger, but with humor and childishness, forty-six
TARIQ, a successful Palestinian businessman and the nephew of Yusef. He speaks with a hint of a British accent and wears Western dress, thirty-five
MICHAEL O’DONEGAL, an Irish “criminal” serving in the British army in Palestine, mid-twenties
RAJIB, an Indian conscript in the British army. He wears a turban but other than that is in British army attire, thirties
GENERAL FALBOUR, he is not entirely brilliant but he loves Britain and that’s enough, mid-sixties
LIEUTENANT DOUGLAS DUFF, a preppy British officer not without ambition, thirties
SAMUEL HIRSCH, a British-educated German Jew and a respected member of the growing Jewish community in Palestine, forty
HAJJ WALEED/HAJJA WALEEDA, works for and lives with Anbara and Yusef. He/she is more an uncle/aunt than a servant and does chores easily for a person of his/her age, seventies
SOLDIERS 1 AND 2, British soldiers
REGGIE, a British businessman
EMILIANO ZAPATA, a ghost
TIME
1939.
Nablus, Palestine. A tennis court, a balcony, a house and a jail cell.
THE SET
On the upstage wall we see the facade of the British headquarters with arched windows. The interior of the building is only visible through the windows. There is a large second floor balcony overlooking the hard clay tennis court, which runs horizontally right to left on the stage, the net cutting vertically across center stage.
One part of the stage also serves as the interior of a Palestinian home, simple, perhaps sharing the back wall of the British HQ.
Another part of the stage serves as the office of Tariq in Act One, Scene 2 and then the prison cell.
NOTE
A slash (/) indicates a suggested slight overlap in dialogue and/or quick pacing of cues, but need not be followed literally.
A NOTE ON CASTING
Soldiers 1 and 2 are intentionally left unspecified in the text so as to give the director discretion with doubling.
In past productions, Emiliano Zapata and Samuel Hirsch have been doubled, and the same actor can play one of the British soldiers as well. Similarly, Hajj Waleed and General Falbour can be doubled if needed. The role of Reggie can be doubled with the actor playing Michael O’Donegal.
The character of Hajj Waleed can also be played by a woman and become “Hajja Waleeda,” with only minimal changes to pronouns.