Middle Eastern American Theatre: Communities, Cultures, and Artists by Michael Malek Najjar (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Middle Eastern American Theatre: Communities, Cultures, and Artists by Michael Malek Najjar Sarah Fahmy MIDDLE EASTERN AMERICAN THEATRE: COMMUNITIES, CULTURES, AND ARTISTS by Michael Malek Najjar. London, England: Metheun Drama, 2021; pp. 256. Middle Eastern American Theatre: Communities, Cultures, and Artists offers a comprehensive overview of the state of Middle Eastern American theatres since the late nineteenth century. It articulates critical perspectives from the genre, including contentious debates, thematic analysis, play excerpts, and invaluable interviews with prominent Middle Eastern American directors. As a Middle Eastern theatre scholar this is a book I have long yearned for, and I can only imagine the impact it will have on shaping the next generation of Middle Eastern thespians, and for envisioning an equitable American theatre. To situate the theatres of the Middle Eastern American communities, Najjar succinctly describes the often overlooked “complex tapestry” of the region’s politics and histories. Offering the framework of “polyculturalism” (11), Najjar articulates the “vast and virtually limitless definition to the peoples, cultures, and religions that are present” (1). He asks readers to imagine the scope of a group that includes “Armenians, Ashkenazi Jews, Turks, Egyptians, Bedouins, Yemani Arabs, Muwahhidun/Druze, Qashqai, Baluch, Turkoman, Hazaras, Pashtuns, Tajiks, Iranians/Persians, March Arabs, Kurds, Lurs, Moroccan Arabs, Berbers, Haratins, and Sephardic Jews,” (1) and complicates the wide multiplicities of religious and ethnic groups of each of those communities: identifications that go beyond state lines and simple binaries. Starting with critiquing the common name itself—the Middle East, which “carries tremendous cultural baggage that includes colonialism, Orientalism, and perverse notions of the region that have been perpetuated through scholarship, popular entertainment, and the arts”—enables the reader to reflect on the historic and contemporary representations and Othering of these communities (3). Najjar encourages readers to situate the evolution of Middle Eastern American theatre within the context of generational trauma and impact of various socio-political events, from two world wars to the spike in anti-Semitic, anti-Arab, anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim, anti-Sikh hate crimes post 9/11, to the community’s lack of representation on the US Census since its inception in 1790 and their complicated relationship to whiteness and assimilation. Among many poignant remarks, he asks “Can one be a Middle Eastern American theatre artist and an accepted ‘American’ artist?” (18) Middle Eastern American Theatre: Communities, Cultures, and Artists is an essential read for all theatre makers from academic institutions to professional companies. Its accessible language and vast scope offer spaces for Middle Eastern Americans to see themselves represented in the theatre archive, and for non-Middle Eastern Americans to learn about the evolving field. Showcasing Middle Eastern American artists commitment to “telling stories of those who are often neglected, unseen, or omitted from American theatre cultural discourses,” (15) Najjar demonstrates their persistence to challenge their misrepresentations. This book, has the potential to become a canonical text, as it provides insight to the arduous, gradual progress required to establish a new genre—the same state that “other great theatre communities (such as African American, Asian American, Latinx, and Native American) were in decades ago” (xv)—and calls upon the necessity of publishing and producing more plays if this genre is to reach its “fullest potential.” The book is split into nine chapters, including an introduction. In the introduction, readers learn about the major groups producing Middle Eastern theatre: Arab American, Iranian American, Jewish and Israeli American, and Turkish American theatres. Najjar traces each to their unique cultural production legacies and range, from the oldest and largest genres such as Jewish American (1870s) and Arab American (1896) productions, to the least documented like Turkish American productions. He contends with the most pressing issues facing the community, the most controversial being casting (32), and references the formidable “Middle Eastern American Theatre, on Our Terms,” an open letter and Bill of Rights, published in American Theatre (30) as a call for action to equitable representation across all facets of theatre. [End Page 112] The first chapter pays homage to sixteen of the most notable Middle Eastern companies in the United States demonstrating their diverse structures. They range from longstanding theatres like Golden Thread Productions, “the first American theatre company...