There is a scene in Mariem Omari’s new play in which an aid worker finds herself in Tunisia and is overwhelmed by the vastness of the landscape. Faced by such cinematic grandeur, she reaches for the only comparison she can think of. “This is where they filmed Star Wars,” she gasps.The observation is doubly appropriate because the play’s star, Raghad Chaar, has form. She appeared as a Resistance officer in Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker.Revolution Days, however, is concerned with a different sort of enormity, being based on Omari’s experience during the Arab Spring. “It’s the enormity of a moment that shapes the world,” says the playwright.
Omari’s work in the Middle East began in Palestine where she was employed by UNRWA, the United Nations relief and works agency. From there, she joined Médecins du Monde, a sister organisation to Médecins Sans Frontières, to help deal with the fallout of the second Gulf War in Iraq. [READ MORE]