Back to All Events

Almonds Blossom in Deir Yassin

Thursday, October 23, 2025 7:30 PM
Saturday, November 15, 2025 9:00 PM

Cherry Street Village 720 25th Avenue Seattle, WA, 98122 United States (map)

Google Calendar ICS

Almonds Blossom in Deir Yassin

Dunya’s world premiere of a new play

By Hanna Eady

ALMONDS BLOSSOM IN DEIR YASSIN is a full-length play about four people with inextricable ties to the historical Palestinian village of Deir Yassin—the site of a massacre of Palestinian men, women, and children on April 9, 1948, by Zionist paramilitary troops.

By 2018, when the play takes place, the site of Deir Yassin has been transformed into Kfar Shaul Mental Health Center, an Israeli mental health institution. The last surviving Israeli paramilitary commander of the massacre has been invited to Deir Yassin for a ceremony honoring his heroic contribution to the founding of the State of Israel. The former commander, now elderly, finds himself struggling with the demands of the State and his own moral conscience as he converses with a young Israeli psychiatrist—and also engages with a Palestinian woman who may or may not be a survivor of Deir Yassin. Through a multiplicity of voices and vividly surreal scenes, the play delves into Palestinian collective memory to deliver a profoundly relevant narrative about atrocity, displacement, human relationships, and hope.

Playwright Hanna Eady says, “Through remembrance, storytelling, and resilience, the play also demonstrates the essence of Palestinian sumud, or steadfastness. This is not a passive quality, but an active one that perseveres through attempts to silence historical truths.”

Previews: October 23 & 24

Opening Night: October 25

Closing Night: November 15

Runtime: 1 hour 20 minutes, no intermission

A portion of all ticket sales will be donated to grassroots aid in Palestine.

Content Warning: Mentions of genocide, self harm, drug abuse, abortion. Camera flashes. Appropriate for teenagers, at guardians’ discretion.

Featured

Tom Wiseley

Tom and Hanna Eady met in the late eighties at the University of Washington, earning their MFAs in Directing together. He joined this project because he believes in it artistically and politically.

Alyssa Norling

Alyssa Norling is an actor and artist who has been performing and creating in Seattle (and Vashon Island across the water!) for over a decade.

Bradley Goodwill

Bradley has acted at Seattle Rep, Intiman Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, As If Theatre Company, The Shattered Glass Project, Annex Theatre, The Merc Playhouse, and the 14/48 Projects.

Nabra Nelson

Nabra Nelson is a theater artist from Nubia, Egypt, and California, and a founding company member of Dunya Productions.

Hanna Eady

Hanna Eady grew up as a Palestinian in what is now Israel. He came to Seattle for graduate school in directing, returning home to work with Palestinian theatre companies, including the one he founded in his native village Buqayah, where he wrote his first play Art and Politics.

Get Tickets

CAST

Gad: Tom Wiseley

Amal: Nabra Nelson

Dr. Levi: Alyssa Norling

Zidan: Bradley Goodwill

PRODUCTION TEAM

Playwright & Director: Hanna Eady

Producer / Print Design: Beth Mahmoud-Howell

Dramaturg / Associate Producer: Edward Mast

Associate Producer / Assistant Tech Director: George Kassis

Production Manager / Lighting Designer: Tom Wiseley