Book Launch: “Modern and Contemporary Political Theater from the Levant”

A decade plus of collaborative work between Nada Saab of LAU and Robert Myers of AUB, which entailed researching, translating and producing seminal dramatic works from the Levant, has culminated in the production of two major new books. The first study, published by Brill, traces the recent history of political theater in the Levant through translations of significant playwrights and critical essays about their work, and the second, published by Yale University Press, is a collection of plays and other writings by the Syrian playwright Sa’dallah Wannous, as well as a critical introduction to his work. Wannous is acknowledged to be one of the most important dramatists and social critics from the Arab world of the last century. Saab and Myers will present their work and show footage of productions of plays from these recently published books. New York-based actors will do staged readings of selected scenes.