“When politics fails, art can save something,” says Malek Najjar, University of Oregon Theatre Arts professor. He is directing award-winning playwright Samah Sabawi’s THEM in productions in Eugene and in Portland.
THEM is a “powerful drama about war, hope and survival,” and it transports audiences into extraordinary circumstances through the use of humor, laughter and song, Najjar says.
“It’s so timely, it could not have been a better pick,” Zayne Clayton, UO graduate and actor in THEM, says. With wars happening, people — including in the U.S. — live with fear of unfair treatment by the government.
The play is presented by University of Oregon students and graduates who are starting their new careers. Najjar says this is a great opportunity for the students and young professionals to share their art not only in Eugene, but in Portland as well.
Even before the play starts, the rhythms of drums by the band, Acoustic Pilgrims, aka Wayne and Denise Gilbertson, bring you to the scene that evokes streets in the Middle East.
“Your jokes will not save us,” Leila (Clayton) says in the play to her husband Omar. Omar and Leila live right by the war zone hearing bombs on a daily basis. Omar keeps making jokes, trying to find the tiniest joy with his wife and enjoy little moments they have together. He tries his best not to accept anyone’s help but to figure things out himself.
“Dude, just accept the help!” UO student Akash Dhruva says he would say that to Omar, the character he plays. Dhruva says of Omar that he strives for independence and wants to provide for the family, his wife and their baby.
Throughout the play, real humor, laughter, tragedy and complexity portray the humanness of the story. “We don’t sugar coat things,” Dhruva says, “It is happening every day.”
“You need a personal connection to share your story,” Najjar says. Because of his experience growing up with Lebanese parents, this play is not foreign but intimate to Najjar. His parents left Lebanon due to economic reasons and the war in 1958, landing in the U.S. Najjar’s wife left Lebanon because of the civil war in the 1980s.
“Refugees are not coming here to ruin the country, they are coming because they are forced to deal with different problems, climate and wars,” he says.
Najjar recently was awarded the 2025 University of Oregon Presidential Fellow in Arts Award and the James F. Miller Artistic Development Fund for Faculty in Theatre Arts, which came with a monetary prize. Najjar says he could only think of what ways he can contribute to address the wars, harms and lack of hope that the world carries today — THEM was the answer.
“Any of us could be them. Our lives, even in tragic moments, have moments of humanity and humor and love and kindness,” playwright Sabawi says. “I wrote THEM to bring the music, the humor, and love as well as the horrific reality of life in a war zone.” She herself has family members affected by the war in Gaza.
THEM directed by Malek Najjar runs 7:30 pm, July 31, and August 1 and 2 at Lane Community College Blue Door Theatre in building 6. It will also run August 14, 15, 16, 21, 22 and 23 in Portland at Portland Center Stage Ellyn Bye Studio. Tickets are $30 for adults, $18 for seniors and $15 for students. An ASL interpreted performance is July 31.