Arts & International Affairs: Volume 2, Number 2 | Page 105

In the first iteration performed in ���� in Jordan, the women spoke vividly
and longingly of their homes in Syria; they still believed that it was just a
matter of time before they returned to Syria. Three years later, with no end
to the war in sight, and their country in ruins, few of the women still held out
any hope of returning home. Instead, they were focused on seeking asylum
in Europe. All wished to escape the dead end of the refugee life in Amman.
Five years of war also have eroded the women’s faith in the international
community. Now, they express outrage at the world’s complicity as bystanders
to Assad’s brutal destruction of his own country. Reem al Sayyah, one of the
actors, passionately expresses anger in the play that “everyone wants to bomb
our home, but no one wants to accept us in his home, even temporarily.” �
Al Sayyah’s speech represents a shift from the victimhood of Syria: The
Trojan Women to righteous indignation, and even recrimination in Queens of
Syria:
“We are not here to entertain you,
or sing a song,
I have an anger
And a message to pass to you
we came from the troy of this age or even worse,
our home is destroyed,
millions of refugees,
hundreds of thousands of innocent victims ……
everyone wants to bomb our home, but no one wants to accept us in his
home even temporarily, only the sea opened his arms for us, without any
preconditions.
We lost our home, we’ve been killed now and in every moment, but the most
miserable point is that it’s become normal, how did killing people became
normal!!
Shame on you.
I’m so tired of asking why, who even cares?”
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