I’m going to cut to the chase but Handala, a 2024 Hollywood Fringe Festival scholarship recipient, may be one of the most important theatre works of our generation. This solo performance show is not only a celebration of Palestine but it does something that is so badly needed right now: to give humanity and soul to the Palestinian people while loudly declaring that there must be freedom and liberation.

It is an exquisite piece of work written and performed by Myriam Ali-Ahmad and co-directed by Becca Khalil and Mahmoud Abobaker. It is an essential piece of work that I wish to see continue past its fringe run and flourish for the whole world to see.

What happens when we dare to step into the life of the “other” with an open heart that sings a song of our shared humanity? 2024 Hollywood Fringe Scholarship recipient, Handala is a solo show written and performed by Myriam Ali-Ahmad and directed by Mahmoud AboBaker and Becca Khalil.

Through the arts of drama, poetry and storytelling, this performance takes us on a journey in Palestine, sailing from one Palestinian to another, navigating the ups and downs of the land, through stories of love, life and resistance, and telling the real story of Palestine, in the eyes of its dignified people.

It is frankly a bit of a miracle that this show even exists right now. This is the case in our current times when even expressing the Palestinian identity and the desire for a ceasefire is considered problematic and has led to blackmail, firings, and cancellations of individuals and organizations. And thus it needs to be stated that not only there is a show that specifically talks about and celebrates Palestine but that the Hollywood Fringe Festival has acknowledged its importance and honored it to be one of this year’s scholarship recipients. While it is not the be-all and end-all if organizations don’t support the efforts of the individual but when they do in these troubling times, it is absolutely worth recognizing.

But the importance of a work’s topic is only fully realized by the strength of the work itself. And it is here that Myriam Ali-Ahmad masterfully guides the audience through the show as various characters, whether it be the citizens of Palestine or a tortured IDF soldier (whose parallel storyline with a young Palestinian man may be one of the most powerful and creative stories I’ve ever seen). For many audience viewers, it may be their first exposure to having any glimpse of the humanity of the Palestinian people that isn’t from their phones or on the news. And it is here that Ali-Ahmad not only gives the people justice but honor. There is so much love and passion given to each and every single of the characters Ali-Ahmad portray, love that can undeniably be felt by the audience members and myself.

Through the effective usage of media, costumes, lighting, and set pieces, directors Khalil and AboBaker intermixes the headline news videos and cell phone footages with the actual human standing before you. Props to stage managers Desireé Roy & Valeria Muñoz Reyes must also be given for these fantastic transitions. My only technical criticism is the gosh darn pillar that lies right into the middle of the black box stage at Art of Acting Studio which the show is being performed at but that is alas an issue that has to be navigated around. My only narrative and structural criticism will be that the show starts off with such incredible emotional rush and high stakes that the pace slows down pretty hard when Ali-Ahmad presents other characters that isn’t presented with such urgency. Balancing the highs and lows can help smooth out the pacing issues. Some of the characters may need work in greater differentiation but I understand that fringe shows are usually works in progress if taken further beyond its current form.

And I do hope that this show continues its life way beyond the fringe. It brings me comfort that all their remaining shows were sold out well in advance so the desire to see this show is most definitely out there. Handala is a work of art that needs to be seen far and wide, in as many stages as possible. Similar to Anna Deveare Smith‘s Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 in its most recent format, I can see a version of this show being done with an ensemble cast. And just like Smith’s masterpiece, I see Handala‘s potential in becoming a show that is just as important in the realm of political theatre where the ‘political’ part is only because a show dares to show a people’s humanity when so many western governments and institutions refuse to do so.