Reviewed by:

• Middle Eastern American Theatre: Communities, Cultures, and Artists by Michael Malek Najjar
• Sarah Fahmy

Middle Eastern American Theatre: Communities, Cultures, and Artists offers a comprehensive overview of the state of Middle Eastern American theatres since the late nineteenth century. It articulates critical perspectives from the genre, including contentious debates, thematic analysis, play excerpts, and invaluable interviews with prominent Middle Eastern American directors. As a Middle Eastern theatre scholar this is a book I have long yearned for, and I can only imagine the impact it will have on shaping the next generation of Middle Eastern thespians, and for envisioning an equitable American theatre.

To situate the theatres of the Middle Eastern American communities, Najjar succinctly describes the often overlooked “complex tapestry” of the region’s politics and histories. Offering the framework of “polyculturalism” (11), Najjar articulates the “vast and virtually limitless definition to the peoples, cultures, and religions that are present” (1). He asks readers to imagine the scope of a group that includes “Armenians, Ashkenazi Jews, Turks, Egyptians, Bedouins, Yemani Arabs, Muwahhidun/Druze, Qashqai, Baluch, Turkoman, Hazaras, Pashtuns, Tajiks, Iranians/Persians, March Arabs, Kurds, Lurs, Moroccan Arabs, Berbers, Haratins, and Sephardic Jews,” (1) and complicates the wide multiplicities of religious and ethnic groups of each of those communities: identifications that go beyond state lines and simple binaries. Starting with critiquing the common name itself—the Middle East, which “carries tremendous cultural baggage that includes colonialism, Orientalism, and perverse notions of the region that have been perpetuated through scholarship, popular entertainment, and the arts”—enables the reader to reflect on the historic and contemporary representations and Othering of these communities (3). Najjar encourages readers to situate the evolution of Middle Eastern American theatre within the context of generational trauma and impact of various socio-political events, from two world wars to the spike in anti-Semitic, anti-Arab, anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim, anti-Sikh hate crimes post 9/11, to the community’s lack of representation on the US Census since its inception in 1790 and their complicated relationship to whiteness and assimilation. Among many poignant remarks, he asks “Can one be a Middle Eastern American theatre artist and an accepted ‘American’ artist?” (18)

Middle Eastern American Theatre: Communities, Cultures, and Artists is an essential read for all theatre makers from academic institutions to professional companies. Its accessible language and vast scope offer spaces for Middle Eastern Americans to see themselves represented in the theatre archive, and for non-Middle Eastern Americans to learn about the evolving field. Showcasing Middle Eastern American artists commitment to “telling stories of those who are often neglected, unseen, or omitted from American theatre cultural discourses,” (15) Najjar demonstrates their persistence to challenge their misrepresentations. This book, has the potential to become a canonical text, as it provides insight to the arduous, gradual progress required to establish a new genre—the same state that “other great theatre communities (such as African American, Asian American, Latinx, and Native American) were in decades ago” (xv)—and calls upon the necessity of publishing and producing more plays if this genre is to reach its “fullest potential.”

The book is split into nine chapters, including an introduction. In the introduction, readers learn about the major groups producing Middle Eastern theatre: Arab American, Iranian American, Jewish and Israeli American, and Turkish American theatres. Najjar traces each to their unique cultural production legacies and range, from the oldest and largest genres such as Jewish American (1870s) and Arab American (1896) productions, to the least documented like Turkish American productions. He contends with the most pressing issues facing the community, the most controversial being casting (32), and references the formidable “Middle Eastern American Theatre, on Our Terms,” an open letter and Bill of Rights, published in American Theatre (30) as a call for action to equitable representation across all facets of theatre. [End Page 112]

The first chapter pays homage to sixteen of the most notable Middle Eastern companies in the United States demonstrating their diverse structures. They range from longstanding theatres like Golden Thread Productions, “the first American theatre company...

审核人：

• 中东美国剧院：迈克尔·马利克·纳贾尔 ( Michael Malek Najjar) 的社区、文化和艺术家
• 莎拉·法赫米

中东美国剧院：社区、文化和艺术家全面概述了 19 世纪末以来中东美国剧院的状况。它阐明了该类型的批判性观点，包括有争议的辩论、主题分析、戏剧节选以及对中东美国著名导演的宝贵采访。作为一名中东戏剧学者，这是我渴望已久的一本书，我只能想象它将对塑造下一代中东戏剧家以及对公平的美国戏剧的构想产生影响。

为了定位中东美国社区的剧院，Najjar 简洁地描述了该地区政治和历史中经常被忽视的“复杂挂毯”。Najjar 提供了“多元文化主义”的框架 (11)，阐明了“对现存的民族、文化和宗教的广泛且几乎无限的定义”(1)。他要求读者想象一个群体的范围，其中包括“亚美尼亚人、德系犹太人、土耳其人、埃及人、贝都因人、也门阿拉伯人、Muwahhidun/德鲁兹人、逍客、俾路支人、土库曼人、哈扎拉人、普什图人、塔吉克人、伊朗人/波斯人、三月阿拉伯人、库尔德人、卢尔人、摩洛哥阿拉伯人、柏柏尔人、哈拉廷人和塞法迪犹太人，”(1) 并使每个社区的宗教和种族群体的广泛多样性复杂化：超越国家界线和简单二进制的身份认同。从批判这个共同名称本身开始——中东，它“承载着巨大的文化包袱，包括殖民主义、东方主义，以及通过学术、大众娱乐和艺术而长期存在的关于该地区的不正当观念”——让读者反思关于这些社区的历史和当代表现以及他者化 (3)。Najjar 鼓励读者将中东美国戏剧的演变置于代际创伤和各种社会政治事件影响的背景下，从两次世界大战到反犹太、反阿拉伯、反犹太、反穆斯林的激增，9/11 后的反锡克教仇恨犯罪，社区自 1790 年开始以来在美国人口普查中缺乏代表性，以及他们与白人和同化的复杂关系。和一位公认的“美国”艺术家？(18)

中东美国剧院：社区、文化和艺术家是从学术机构到专业公司的所有戏剧制作人的必备读物。它通俗易懂的语言和广阔的范围为中东美国人提供了空间，让他们看到自己在剧院档案中的代表，也为非中东美国人提供了了解不断发展的领域的空间。展示中东美国艺术家致力于“讲述那些在美国戏剧文化话语中经常被忽视、看不见或遗漏的人的故事”，(15) Najjar 展示了他们挑战错误陈述的坚持。这本书有可能成为经典文本，因为它提供了建立新流派所需的艰巨、渐进的过程的见解——与“其他伟大的戏剧社区（如非裔美国人、亚裔美国人、拉丁裔、

本书分为九章，包括导论。在简介中，读者了解制作中东戏剧的主要群体：阿拉伯裔美国人、伊朗裔美国人、犹太人和以色列裔美国人以及土耳其裔美国人。Najjar 追溯了每个人独特的文化生产遗产和范围，从最古老和最大的流派，如犹太裔美国人（1870 年代）和阿拉伯裔美国人（1896 年）的作品，到记录最少的土耳其裔美国人的作品。他致力于解决社区面临的最紧迫的问题，最具争议的是选角 (32)，并引用了令人敬畏的“中东美国剧院，以我们的方式”，这是一封公开信和发表在美国剧院的权利法案(30) 作为对戏剧各个方面的公平代表采取行动的呼吁。【112页完】

第一章向在美国展示其多元化结构的 16 家最著名的中东公司致敬。它们包括历史悠久的剧院，如 Golden Thread Productions，“美国第一家剧院公司......