Them

by Samah Sabawi, Bagryana Popov (preface)

across the sea that separates us from them
life waits for us on the other side
and I can't go there without you …

In an unnamed city at war, five young people count down the days before a boat leaves for Europe. Who will leave, who will stay, and what will their choices cost them?

From the writer of the award-winning Tales of a City by the Sea.
Winner of the Green Room Independent Theatre Award for Writing 2020
Shortlisted for the NSW and Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2020

'A drama dappled with humanity and humour amid the horrors of war […] The inextinguishable spirit of laughter, of the music of life in the face of desolation, is crucial to both the play's poignancy and appeal.'— Sydney Morning Herald

65 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 28, 2025

About the author

Dr Samah Sabawi is an award-winning Palestinian playwright, poet, scholar, and political commentator whose work weaves art and resistance into powerful expressions of identity, memory, and hope. Sabawi’s most recent book Cactus Pear for My Beloved: A Gaza family story (Penguin 2024), is a searing memoire exploring love, exile, and the enduring scars of dispossession. The book chronicles her family’s journey across a century—from British Mandate Palestine through the Nakba and exile to Queensland. The book has earned critical acclaim, was shortlisted for the 2025 Stella Prize, The Age Book of the Year, and the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards’ Douglas Stewart Prize for Non fiction; it was also highly commended by the Victoria Premier’s Literary Awards and long listed for the Palestine Book Awards. Sabawi’s plays Tales of a City by the Sea (La Mamma 2014 – Currency Press 2016) and Them (La Mamma 2019 – Currency Press 2020) both won multiple awards, were staged to critical acclaim in theatres across Australia, Canada, and the Middle East, and continue to be widely studied and celebrated for their lyrical storytelling and uncompromising political depth. In 2016, Sabawi co-edited with Stephen Orlov the anthology Double Exposure: Plays of the Jewish and Palestinian Diasporas (Playwrights Canada Press 2016). This groundbreaking anthology is the first English-language collection bringing together plays by Jewish and Palestinian writers, accompanied by interviews offering insight into the challenges of writing and staging stories centred on justice for Palestine. the book received the Biennial Patrick O’Neill Award. In the realm of poetry, Sabawi co-authored I Remember My Name – Poetry by Samah Sabawi, Ramzy Baroud and Jehan Bseiso (Novum Publishing 2016). This powerful trio of Palestinian poets––inspired by exile and resistance––offers deeply personal and politically charged reflections on identity, displacement, and hope. Sabawi’s poems employ sharp satire and emotional resonance—calling out injustice and giving voice to resilience. The anthology received the 2016 Palestine Book Award for its lyrical, urgent storytelling Beyond the page and stage, Sabawi is a respected media commentator and public speaker and a passionate advocate for justice and human rights. She is co-founder and Board Director of Palestine Australia Relief and Action (PARA), supporting Palestinians, especially Gaza genocide survivors in Australia. Dr Sabawi received a Master of Communications from Griffith University and a PhD from Victoria University.

Reviews

[Natasha (jouljet) · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Cactus Pear For My Beloved was longlisted for the Stella Prize, I remembered that I had this play on my shelves, from an Adelaide Writer's Festival inspired purchase.

A play set, the notes say "somewhere in the Arab world", about a young family living among the rubble and bombing going on around them. Nursing baby, negotiating love and sourcing food, the couple are living on the edge of danger and uncertainty.

The friends and family of this little family unit are also navigating this incredibly unimaginably dire circumstance, seeking any and every option to find safety and a better life.

So much packed into a play read. Would have been incredible to see performed - although I think we are witnessing these moments and aftermaths every day right now via our phones.