(Credit: Josh McClure/Blackfish Productions)
In the complete darkness of London Soho's Underbelly Boulevard Theater, before anyone takes to the stage, the voice of Oscar-winning actress Jessie Buckley cries out: "I didn’t know what to take with me, nor what to leave behind... How can you condense an entire lifetime in just a few minutes?"These are the words of Lebanese writer Imane Faysal Almodhi. They appear on the screen, telling the story of a woman standing transfixed in front of a small open suitcase. While she is moved to stay, a voice within urges her to flee. Then comes the rumble of jet planes, the explosion, walls trembling, and dust falling "like the ashes of a dream being consumed." In the audience, no one moves. Imane's harrowing, split-second decision to flee to safety amid Israel's war on Lebanon has found its way to a stage in London....
In the complete darkness of London Soho's Underbelly Boulevard Theater, before anyone takes to the stage, the voice of Oscar-winning actress Jessie Buckley cries out: "I didn’t know what to take with me, nor what to leave behind... How can you condense an entire lifetime in just a few minutes?"These are the words of Lebanese writer Imane Faysal Almodhi. They appear on the screen, telling the story of a woman standing transfixed in front of a small open suitcase. While she is moved to stay, a voice within urges her to flee. Then comes the rumble of jet planes, the explosion, walls trembling, and dust falling "like the ashes of a dream being consumed." In the audience, no one moves. Imane's harrowing, split-second decision to flee to safety amid Israel's war on Lebanon has found its way to a stage in...
