An original musical set in Israel and Palestine during the First Intifada, Abraham's Land tells the story of two men, brought together by one tragic moment. Ismail, a Palestinian philosophy student, wants the Israelis to see his humanity and that of his people. But when he takes the podium at a demonstration in East Jerusalem, he is fatally shot by Israeli sergeant Yitzhak, who perceives him to be a threat. Filled with guilt to discover that his victim was unarmed, Yitzhak is haunted by Ismail's ghost. Disguising himself as a Palestinian, Yitzhak journeys to Ismail's home in Gaza to return his identity card and ask his family for forgiveness. There, he experiences the dignity, suffering and humanity of the other side, while coming to terms with his own moral shortcomings. Can Ismail achieve in death, what he could not do in life, by getting Yitzhak to see him and his family as human beings, worthy of the same rights and opportunities to follow their dreams?

Book & Lyrics by Lauren Goldman Marshall
Music & Orchestrations by Roger Ames
Additional Music by David Nafissian & Paul Linnes
Directed by David Grabarkewitz
Music Direction by Paul Linnes
Choreography by Kathryn Van Meter & Waseem Sbait
NY Casting by Judy Bowman, CSA
Director of Photography: Ben Kerns
Sound Design: Tom Fallat

Featuring Michael Strauss, François Ben-Saaid, Maria Habeeb, Hassan Nazari-Robati, David Studwell, Bobbi Kotula, Danya El-Kurd, Cammi Smith, Paul Shapiro and a multi-generational ensemble.

Produced by Theater of Possibility at Kirkland Performance Center, Kirkland, WA, July 2021. This is an edited live capture of the KPC performance, newly mastered and re-released in 2024. Arabic and Hebrew closed captions are available in settings. Please grant us a little grace as we fine tune over the next few weeks. We ran into some technical difficulties getting the English captions synched in time for this premiere, but promise to have them soon.
כתוביות זמינות בעברית
تمت الترجمة للعربية بواسطة آدم آدم و علاء الدين أبو عساكر

Copyright 2021 Lauren Goldman Marshall & Roger Ames

Audience Testimonials:

“A beautiful story with a universal appeal.” Lenore Bensinger

“The writing, amazingly, did not demonize one side or the other. Rather it showed the humanity of both while not shying from hard facts of what needs to be done.” Bert Sacks

“I watched it and wept and wept. It is unfortunately so very timely, not to mention beautiful.” Gail vonHahmann

“It is a true work of (he)art and soul.” – Coni Pursley

"I love when they say I'm a refugee and all I have is my story." Nada Alaloul, current refugee from the war in Gaza

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