Rubble

By Suvendrini Lena

What is the meaning of poetry amidst a state of siege? And what is our responsibility as we read, write, hear, and witness the survival of the human spirit in poetry? Lena Khalaf-Tuffaha's viral poem "Running Orders" inspired the play's opening, where a Gaza family receives a phone call, a recorded message, giving them fifty-eight seconds to evacuate their home. Moving backwards from this moment, Rubble presents scenes of family life: falling in love, anticipating the birth of a child, cramming for exams, making pickles. Alongside this family's story, a poet struggles to find meaning under siege. The poet's words, drawn from Mahmoud Darwish's epic poem "A State of Siege," imbue daily life with beauty, historical consciousness, and endurance in the face of oppression. Through these alternating sequences, the play tells the story of one Gaza family and a reflects on the role of both poetry and theatre in resistance to genocide.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1996891049
• ISBN13: 9781996891049
• Release Date: May 2027
• Publisher: Scirocco Drama
• Length: 60 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.5" x 8.5"