Rosette From New Arab American Theater Works Has World Premiere at Mixed Blood

Rosette by William Nour and developed through New Arab American Works’ Inaugural Playwright Incubator Program holds its world Premiere at Mixed Blood Theater in Minneapolis. It is a play designed to remind us that we are all ultimately the same. To remind us that whether we are Christian, Jew or Muslim, Israeli, Palestinian or American we are all the same inside. I am not a very political creature but I do understand that there is a political element to this play. I’m not interested when reviewing this play about the larger current political environment I’m concerned with the characters and the story it is telling. Which is of two Palestinian families living in the city of Haifa in 1966. Rosette a teenage girl living with her parents, Yusef and Ida, who are Christians and their neighbors and best friends, Jameel and Maryam and their son Omar, who are Muslim. The two families were both exiled from the same West Bank village in 1948. The play is more character study than plot driven. There isn’t really a goal that the characters are trying to achieve, there is conflict to be sure, but it is of the everyday variety. It is really about presenting these characters, so different from mine in the details of their life. But, so similar in their emotions, hopes, and desires. Through showing us these characters with all their traits good and bad, playwright Nour shows us ourselves. Rosette reminds us that behind headlines there are people just like you and me who are not creating the headlines but living through them.

The cast is uniformly good particularly in the group scenes where the dialogue during disagreements flies fast and overlaps. Laila Sahir as Rosette and Claudia Veronica Garcia as her mother Ida are particularly effective when they battle in the ways that mothers and daughters have across races, cultures, and history. It is in these interpersonal exchanges between parents and children, between the children, between husbands and wives, and between old friends and neighbors that we see ourselves our families and friends reflected back at us. Nour’s gift is in writing these moments which all ring true. Also in finding the way to illustrate again, without being too on the nose, how each generation has to find it’s own path and how difficult that can be for the older generation who watches their way of life vanishing. In this case that fear of loss in complicated by having lost so much in their lives. Change can be good and is almost always inevitable, but it can also be hard. Even in things as small as woman wearing pants or as large as marrying outside of your own faith.

Rosette is an engaging and effective showcase of the universality of the human condition. It is well written and acted, the only criticism I have is in the scene changes. There are pieces of set design that are reconfigured and plants that are moved about the stage during way too frequent of scene changes. The show runs about 70 minutes at least five of which are scene changes. The addition of a few additional set pieces could have allowed for simply staging different scenes on different portions of the stage. Mixed Blood Theater has an unusually wide stage and this solution could easily have been utilized and allowed for a more fluid narrative. Rosette runs through October 6th at Mixed Blood Theater. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.newarabamericantheaterworks.org/upcoming-events-/rosette–by-william-nour

Tired of missing reviews from The Stages of MN? Do you find yourself left out when all your friends are talking about that great new play that you didn’t even know about? Never fear, that need never happen again. Now you too can subscribe and have every post from The Stages of MN sent directly to your email box. No more hoping the algorithm works in your favor and you actually see a post on facebook or Instagram. No relying on so-called friends to tip you to the best shows in town. To subscribe on your computer: from the home page on the right, enter your email address and click subscribe. On your mobile device scroll to the bottom of the page and do the same. You can also follow me on Facebook, @thestagesofmn click follow and on Instagram thestagesofmn. You can also read some of my reviews syndicated on the MN Playlist website https://minnesotaplaylist.com/ from time to time.

But that’s not all! Think I may have steered you wrong on a show? Well, I am also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can read roundups of shows by m’colleagues and I when you follow us on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers. We also produce the podcast Twin Cities Theater Chat!! which you can access through this link or wherever you enjoy podcasts https://twincitiestheaterchat.buzzsprout.com/ . Now you too can be in the know about all the fabulous theater happening in and around the Twin Cities.