Almonds Blossom in Deir Yassin
ALMONDS BLOSSOM IN DEIR YASSIN, a full-length play, takes place on the grounds of the historical Palestinian village of Deir Yassin—the site of a mass murder of Palestinian men, women, and children by Zionist paramilitary troops in 1948. When the play starts, it’s 2018, the site of Deir Yassin now holds an Israeli psychiatric hospital, and the last surviving Israeli paramilitary commander has arrived for a ceremony honoring his heroic contribution to the founding of the State of Israel. The commander, now an elderly man, finds that he must deal with the demands of the State and his own moral conscience as he comes face-to-face with a thirtysomething Israeli psychiatrist; a Palestinian woman who might or might not be a survivor of the massacre; and an old man who witnessed it. Through multiple voices and vividly surreal scenes, the play delves into Palestinian collective memory to deliver a remarkably relevant narrative about memory, atrocity, human relationships, and hope.
In 2025, this play resonates beyond Palestine and across the global landscape as indigenous and marginalized peoples find powerful new ways to remember and resist—actively protesting historical and current wrongs, claiming basic human rights, and reclaiming their lived history and land. At the same time, progressive movements are challenging the status quo and expressing strong solidarity in the struggle for social and political justice. In many ways, Palestinians—in the occupied territories, and in diaspora—and their allies are driving this global evolution.
Playwright Hanna Eady, a longtime resident of Bainbridge Island, grew up in the north of what is now Israel. He is a co-founder and member of Dunya Productions, a theatre company founded in 2019 to amplify the voices of the Middle East, North African, and Arab (MENAA+) people, as well as other marginalized communities. Eady’s plays have been produced in Washington DC, Boston, San Francisco and Israel, as well as in Seattle.
ALMONDS BLOSSOM IN DEIR YASSIN will run Wednesday – Saturday nights at 8:00 pm for four weeks, February 19 through March 15, 2025. Preview shows are on February 19 and 20; the official opening is on February 21. Tickets are available on a sliding scale https://www.dunyaproductions.org/
Event Links
Tickets: https://go.evvnt.com/2880875-0
