play reading: habibi

Habibi follows the lives of Ramy and Abdul as their love battles an apartheid state, an occupation and an unaccepting world. Hiding out in Israel, having escaped persecution, Abdul struggles with his PTSD and Ramy strives to keep them safe. Discovered by the police, despite their permits, the two are separated and Abdul is subjected to torture and expelled back to Palestine where he may face certain death but Israel’s Mossad has other uses for him.  Ramy does all he can to find Abdul and seeks the help of Queen Aviv, star of the Arab queer scene, longtime friend and narrator of our story.

This shattered present contends with a tumultuous past as we relive Ramy and Abdul’s childhood, how the two met, fell in love and the attempt to separate them and how they found each other, how they always do and how they always will find each other amidst the rubble. 

A rehearsed reading of a new-writing piece by Jamie’Diane Rajaram

Starring Tural K. Valiyev, Filippo Tabbi & Ilja Barsony.