The Winter Play Festival culminated in two nights of student-directed performances on March 20 and 21 in the Abdul Majeed Shoman Auditorium. Three short plays were performed back to back, showcasing the skills of student directors, actors and technical crew. The evening started with Ernest Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants, adapted by English teacher Philip Carr-Harris and directed by Khalid Abdulaziz ’18. The six cast members put on an emotional performance full of tension and drama that left the audience with more questions than answers. Next up was Eugene Ionesco’s The Lesson, adapted and directed by Nasser Gammoh ’18. The three actors put on an energetic performance, bringing to life strange and disturbing characters with a lot of humor and more than a little madness. The final play of the evening was William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet “as it was originally intended,” adapted and directed by Rakan Haddadin-Cameron ’19. The 12 cast members kept the audience in stitches with their lighthearted rhyming and comic performance, breathing new life into the usually solemn classic.    

Hills Like White Elephants cast:
Fadi Nuqul ’18, Maya AbuAli ’18, Hamzeh Shahin ’18, Yasmeed Khashman ’20, Rubi Hawari ’18, Hashim Khalayleh ’18. Director: Khalid AbdulAziz ’18

The Lesson cast:
Esam AlQudah ’18, Zeena Al Ali ’18, Talal Azzam ’18. Director: Nasser Gammoh ’18

Romeo and Juliet cast:
Jamila Kurani ’19, Mohammad AlQudah ’19, Elyana Konsul ’18, Tara Shawwa ’20, Ruby Hawari ’18, Nadia Salfiti ’21, Seif Breizat ’20, Lana Jarrar ’18, Nasser Alami ’19, Leyann Maqousi ’20, Zayd Lahham ’19, Esam AlQudah ’18. Director: Rakan Haddadin-Cameron ’19

Technical crew:
Yiran Zhao ’21, Deema AlRumayyan ’18, Mohammad Amin. Technical Director: Abraham Galen. Faculty crew: Cailey Cron, Philip Carr-Harris, Alison Trattner