Omar and Leila are a young couple living somewhere in the Middle East. Their city is in a war zone but still, life goes on. Omar and his friends meet every day, Leila attends to their infant baby, and the two of them even find a moment to canoodle while sheltering under the kitchen table during an air raid. But things are undeniably getting worse. 

Omar’s mysterious sister Salma arrives in the middle of this increasingly forced normalcy. The local militias certainly seem to know her and even Omar is wary: where has Salma come from, and what’s really going on with her marriage brokering business? Salma knows a way for Omar and his family to get out of this doomed city and offers them the means to take it. But can they take their freedom if it is going to cost others theirs? 

THEM is a play written by Samah Sabawi, writer of the award-winning Tales of a City by the Sea, and was developed in consultation with people living in conflict zones and displaced by war.

In 2019, THEM had its world premiere at La Mama Courthouse directed by award-winning director Bagryana Popov, and featuring Priscilla Doueihy as Leila, Abdulrahman Hammoud as Omar, Claudia Greenstone as Salma, Reece Vella as Mohamed, Khisraw Jones-Shukoor as Majid, and Nahed Elrayes as the Piano Man. The production had an incredible response: tickets for the whole season sold out two weeks before opening night; three additional performances sold out the same day tickets were released. The show received passionate responses from audiences, and five-star reviews in national media. 

Since then, the play has won the Green Room Independent Theatre Award for Best Writing, been nominated for three other Green Room Awards including Best Independent Production, and shortlisted for the prestigious Victorian Premier’s Literary Award as well as the Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting, NSW Premier’s Literary Award. 

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