Time Out Theater Review: "Palestine"
By: David Cote - Time Out New York
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"Palestine" is a new off-Broadway solo work by playwright-performer Najla Saïd, the daughter of the late literary critic Edward Saïd. Time Out New York contributing critic David Cote filed the following review.In her one-woman show "Palestine," Najla Said tells how she went from being spoiled Upper West Side resident to a born-again Lebanese-Palestinian. Considering that Najla’s father was the late, great literary critic Edward Said, the father of the concept of "Orientalism," the show covers dangerous territory -- can the Arab-American princess get past the distorted Western view of the East?
Orientalism, according to Edward Said, concerns the ways in which the Middle East and Asia have been historically misrepresented as a land of black magic, savagery and exotic sexuality. More recently, of course, the vast, diverse region has become known to some as a breeding ground for terrorists. Najla Said uses her theatrical memoir to dispel both caricatures.
Najla Said grows up, by her own admission, as an urban, secular child of privilege who never bothered to identify as Arab-American or Palestinian. When she travels to the Gaza Strip as a young woman, she finds herself disgusted and ashamed by the poverty and squalor in the Occupied Territories. Along with her father, she meets with Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat, becomes self-conscious about her revealing Western attire, and is desperate to return to the safety of New York City.
Soon, though, Najla Said finds herself drawn back to the Middle East, and repeated trips to Lebanon signal a breakthrough as she embraces the culture. The September 11th terrorist attacks change everything, and Said finds herself standing up for her Palestinian heritage.
Najla Said narrates her cultural and ethnic awakening in a breezy, conversational style that avoids anything too political. If Said comes across as narcissistic, she is performing a one-person show about her life story. If she were less appealing, one might find it less engaging.
"Palestine" could use script cuts and stronger direction, but it is somewhat charming and even informative to viewers who know nothing about the subject. As for representing a Middle East free of Orientalist humbug, one would like to think that Ms. Said’s father would mostly approve.