The Strangest

Midway through Camus’s classic The Strangest, an unnamed Arab is killed. Leaping from this moment and working backwards through possible histories of tangled romance, ethnic conflict and random violence, Betty Shamieh has crafted a new play inspired by this unknown character. The Strangest is an absurdist murder mystery about three Algerian brothers who vie for the love of the same woman, one of whom will be inexplicably gunned down by a French stranger. Infused with elements of Middle Eastern storytelling traditions, audience members enter into a simulation of an Algerian coffeehouse where masters of the oral tradition once told tales. A workshop production directed by May Adrales.