←Recommendations of I Am Not My Motherland

A beautifully rendered exploration of both a few small, specific relationships, as well as larger socio-political themes and issues related to belonging, home, Israel, Palestine, and more. The highly theatrical and shapeshifting use of double-casting works so well, as do the different perspectives we slowly get to peek at this world from throughout. The final scene is an understated but effective knockout of a last moment. I'd so love to see this performed!

A stunning play that looks at something as big as the Israel-Palestine conflict through the relationship between two doctors. Loved the way time moves in this play.

A riveting unfolding of the stories of war and the lessons to be learned from those who lived it. Well done.

I adore this sharp, heartrending play. Emily is so adept at innovating structure to suit the story she's building. In MOTHERLAND, she uses multiple perspectives to vivid effect; the result is a layered, surprising, heartbreaking account of the competing narratives of settler colonialism for Israelis and Palestinians. This is a beautiful interrogation of the generational impact of war, and how the stories the dislocated and the victorious tell to their descendants create identity. AND -- it's funny!

It is the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's pleasure to recommend Emily Acker and their play I Am Not My Motherland as a finalist for our 2016 National Playwrights Conference. The play rose through a competitive, anonymous, multileveled selection process that took nearly nine months to execute. As one of 54 finalists out of more than 1,450 submissions, the strength of its writing has allowed this work to prosper in such a competitive selection process. Our readers were especially struck by the unique structure, rhythmic writing, and simultaneous intimacy and vastness of the storytelling.

A really in depth exploration of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict told in the most intimate circumstances possible.