Review: HOME? A PALESTINIAN WOMAN'S PURSUIT OF LIFE, LIBERTY & HAPPINESS at Z Below

Hend is an adorable Palestinian five-year old giddy about attending her Jewish Best Friend’s Purim party. Dressed as a pretty princess, she can’t wait for the poppyseed hamantaschen, the ubiquitous pastry of the holiday. It’s there that she’s racially slammed – "the only good Arab is a dead Arab". On top of that, there’s only apricot pastries. Its the first of many disappointments she will face. How can a child process such an insult? She lives in Haifa as an Israeli, goes to an integrated school but due to the unfolding intifada, her rosy life is about to be challenged.

Hend Ayoub’s journey of self-discovery is beautifully presented in Home?, marking the return of San Francisco Playhouses’ Sandbox series. Told in English, Arabic and Hebrew, Ayoub channels about a dozen characters through subtle vocal infections and physical gestures from her family to acting coaches, friends, and potential employers. Mixing humor into the mostly sad story of discrimination and cultural alienation, Home? Will resonate with today’s anti-immigrant atmosphere.

Hend  provides a multitude of perspectives, from her bitter grandmothers whose land was stolen by Israel, to her Arab teachers who force her to hide her Palestinian flag, to her always supportive mother who wants her to get a degree to achieve freedom and independence in a male dominated culture. When she fails an engineering trade school assessment, she’s told to be a waitress or actress. She wisely chooses actress, but here too she will come up against more ridiculous opportunities for discrimination. She can’t act in Israel, the Egyptians don’t want an Israeli-Arab and in the US, she’s offered roles as terrorist’s wife or wailing Arab stereotypes. She’s forced to lose her accent and assimilate, denying her essence.

There’s humor to balance the show, in Ayoub’s acting and lines like her naïve statement that” in America they don’t discriminate against minorities.” When her cigarette smoking mother starts to cough, you know she’s a goner and Ayoub must absorb her loss with stultifying grief. Her father urges her to move on and go for her dreams which will lead her to develop her own story which becomes this play. Hend carefully bridges the political horrors with a story of hope and fortitude.

 Home? A Palestinian Woman’s Pursuit of Life, Liberty & Happiness continues through August 16th. Tickets available at sfplayhouse.org or by calling the Z Below box office at 415-626-0453.

Photos: Jessica Palopoli