Description

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A prolific playwright in the US, Egyptian-American playwright Yussef El Guindi explores, through his dramatic work, the immigrant experience. Addressing the personal, political and social encounters of those trying to adapt to new western countries and cultures, his plays are conceived and shaped with intelligence, sensibility and humour.
This collection brings together works that span his career, from his first major play, Back of the Throat, to his boldly topical Threesome, throughout which he delves into the complex issues commonly felt by Arab immigrants in the US: Arabophobia, Islamophobia, media orientalism and bi-cultural issues.
The plays featured in the anthology are:

Back of the Throat
Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat
Language Rooms
Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World
Threesome

Packed with supplementary information that expands upon and contextualises El Guindi's work, this collection is both an excellent compendium and a resource for study. Additional material includes: an annotated timeline of the playwright's life and work; an introduction by Professor Michael Malek Najjar (University of Oregon) that draws out themes within the plays and examines El Guindi's place in American theatre in the post-9/11 era; production stills of some productions of El Guindi's work; and El Guindi's essay Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Meet Abdallah and Ahmed: Musings about Arabs and Muslims in American Theatre.

About the Author

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Michael Malek Najjar is an associate professor of Theatre Arts at the University of Oregon, USA with a specialization in Arab American and Middle Eastern Theatre forms. He is the author of Arab American Drama, Film and Performance, 1908 to the Present and the editor of Four Arab American Plays: Works by Leila Buck, Jamil Khoury, Yussef El Guindi, and Lameece Issaq & Jacob Kader. He is on the advisory board of Arab Stages. Yussef El Guindi is a prolific Arab-American playwright of Egyptian descent whose works have been produced across the USA since Back of the Throat first premiered in 2004. He writes full-length, one-act, and adapted plays that focus on the Arab/Muslim experience in the United States. El Guindi has been the recipient of many prestigious playwriting awards including the Steinberg/American Theater Critics Association's New Play Award, Gregory Award, Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, ACT New Play Award, Seattle Times' "Footlight Award", the M. Elizabeth Osborn Award, L.A. Weekly's Excellence in Playwriting Award, Chicago's After Dark/John W. Schmid Award for Best New Play, and the Middle East America Distinguished Playwright Award.