About This Show
In this explosive new work, award winning playwright Yussef el Guindi gives us a darkly humorous, sensual and provocative look at identity, media-representation, love and lust in the Arab-American community.
Struggling writer, Gamal, fueled by frustration over the limited Arab voices represented in the U.S. media, engages in a prank campaign to shake up the system. His weapons? A chocolate mousse cake and lipstick. His targets? A popular Arab-American writer and an influential Sheikh. But those in power have a way of turning the tables. When Gamal’s lover, Noor, is convinced by a prominent publisher to alter her novel to satisfy Western hunger for “Orientalist” fare, Gamal lashes out at his own community. The results are staggering.
The staged reading is followed by a Q&A session with playwright Yussef El Guindi.
Our Enemies is presented as part of the Al Kasida Staged Reading Series, Chicagoland’s first and only staged reading series dedicated to showcasing playwrights of Asian, Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean backgrounds.