Recommendations of Refuge Malja ملجأ

  • David Winitsky: Refuge Malja ملجأ

    The Syrian Refugee crisis, literally haunted by the ghost of the Holocaust. This is what “Never Again Means Now” looks like onstage.

    The Syrian Refugee crisis, literally haunted by the ghost of the Holocaust. This is what “Never Again Means Now” looks like onstage.

  • Nancy Davidoff Kelton: Refuge Malja ملجأ

    Refuge Malja is poignant, beautifully written, and engaging from beginning to end. Bess Welden is a superb playwright. I love everything about this very fresh, original work. Bravo!!

    Refuge Malja is poignant, beautifully written, and engaging from beginning to end. Bess Welden is a superb playwright. I love everything about this very fresh, original work. Bravo!!

  • Donna Hoke: Refuge Malja ملجأ

    Everything you want in a work of art for the stage: theatrical, poetic, moving, and original.

    Everything you want in a work of art for the stage: theatrical, poetic, moving, and original.

  • Elizabeth A. M. Keel: Refuge Malja ملجأ

    I admired this play’s unapologetic use of Arabic. (A specific translator is offered to productions in the opening note.) It gazes directly at the bright sun of the Syrian refugee crisis, and allows the audience to experience the tragedy through a personal zeroing in on Jamie’s loneliness. The ongoing metaphor of the camera: when to look, when to shutter, the inescapability of proof, is effective. I also enjoyed the blend of poetry with dialogue, and the fact that all four actors take turns portraying the wolf. That’s a nice bit of pure theatricality.

    I admired this play’s unapologetic use of Arabic. (A specific translator is offered to productions in the opening note.) It gazes directly at the bright sun of the Syrian refugee crisis, and allows the audience to experience the tragedy through a personal zeroing in on Jamie’s loneliness. The ongoing metaphor of the camera: when to look, when to shutter, the inescapability of proof, is effective. I also enjoyed the blend of poetry with dialogue, and the fact that all four actors take turns portraying the wolf. That’s a nice bit of pure theatricality.

  • Emma Goldman-Sherman: Refuge Malja ملجأ

    Intense and compelling play about a Jewish American woman torn between her family and her desire to rescue a young boy who is a refugee. I love the connections she makes between today's refugees, those from the Nakba, and those who died in the Holocaust. Welden's sharply beautiful the language resists sentiment while the doubling of the mother characters allows us to recognize ourselves in others without having to use any words at all.

    Intense and compelling play about a Jewish American woman torn between her family and her desire to rescue a young boy who is a refugee. I love the connections she makes between today's refugees, those from the Nakba, and those who died in the Holocaust. Welden's sharply beautiful the language resists sentiment while the doubling of the mother characters allows us to recognize ourselves in others without having to use any words at all.