Arabs are a remarkably theatrical population, yet many remain unaware of the profound importance and relevance that theater holds in daily life. Scholar and performer Dr. Samer Al-Saber discusses his award-winning book, A Movement's Promise, which charts the history of contemporary Palestinian theater. The conversation explores how a small, tenacious community of artists used storytelling and comedy as forms of resistance under occupation while navigating pervasive institutional censorship. From the legendary tours of Al-Hakawati Theatre to the unique role of commercial theater in shaping regional consciousness, this episode highlights a world-class cultural heritage that continues to endure.
Arabs are a remarkably theatrical population, yet many remain unaware of the profound importance and relevance that theater holds in daily life. Scholar and performer Dr. Samer Al-Saber discusses his award-winning book, A Movement's Promise, which charts the history of contemporary Palestinian theater. The conversation explores how a small, tenacious community of artists used storytelling and comedy as forms of resistance under occupation while navigating pervasive institutional censorship. From the legendary tours of Al-Hakawati Theatre to the unique role of commercial theater in shaping regional consciousness, this episode highlights a world-class cultural heritage that continues to endure.
00:00 Introduction
01:15 First Memories of the Live Stage
03:20 The Intertwined Destinies of Theater and Media
05:46 Dualities of Performance
08:25 The Mechanics of Exportation & the VHS Era
11:59 The Roots of Social Commentary
15:19 Mapping a Movement: Theater as Liberation
19:55 The Walled-Off Era & Global Ambassadors
23:55 Characters Every Arab Should Know
28:05 Ideologies, Regimes, & the Arab Body Politic
31:47 Theater as a Leading Indicator
35:36 Creating Art Under Pressure
42:03 Tracing the Legal Frameworks of Pervasive Control
45:04 The Precarious State of Spaces & Cultural Institutions
Samer Al-Saber is a critical scholar, historian, director, and playwright at Williams College, where he is Associate Professor of Theatre. He comes to Williams after serving for over a decade at the Department of Theater and Performance Studies at Stanford University, the School of Theater at Florida State University, and the Theater Department at Davidson College. He received the Walter J Gores Award at Stanford and the Undergraduate Teaching Award at Florida State University, the most prestigious teaching awards at these institutions. His monograph A Movement's Promise: The Making of Contemporary Palestinian Theater (Stanford University Press, 2025) is the first comprehensive history of the Palestinian Theater Movement. He is co-editor of the anthology Stories Under Occupation and Other Plays from Palestine (Seagull Press/University of Chicago Press), editor of To The Good People of Gaza (Bloomsbury Press), and co-editor of Arab, Performance, and Politics (Routledge, 2024). Directing credits include Returning to Haifa (Golden Thread Productions, 2025), Betty Shamieh's As Soon As Impossible, Hasan Abdelrazzak's The Prophet, and others. He holds a PhD in Theatre History and Criticism from the University of Washington (2013).
Connect with Samer Al-Saber 👉 https://instagram.com/samer.al.saber
Hosted by Mikey Muhanna 👉 https://instagram.com/mikey_mu
Theme music: Peninsular, Tarek Yamani 🔊 https://spoti.fi/47I59ns