Watch: Chicago in Arabic Interview and Discussion of The Shroud Maker 2023

Chicago in Arabic: Chicago's News brought into focus in Arabic for Arabic-speaking residents and visitors.

Watch Chicago in Arabic interview with IVP Executive Director Patrizia Acerra and The Shroud Maker’s Director Marina Johnson.

The Shroud Maker by Ahmed Masoud, directed by Marina Johnson, and starring Roxane Assaf-Lynn at Chicago Dramatists, 798 N. Aberdeen St., is receiving from press and audiences! Come and see this show in its final two week, The Shroud Maker must close April 8!

The International Voices Project presents

The Shroud Maker March 16 - April 8

at the Chicago Dramatists 798 N. Aberdeen, Chicago, IL

Loosely based on a real life character still living in Gaza, The Shroud Maker is a dark comedy that tells the story of 80 year old Hajja Souad, who makes and sells shrouds for the dead in the Shujaia neighborhood in Palestine. 

What’s the best business in Gaza? Hajja Souad, an 80-year old woman living in the El Shujaia Neighbourhood, has the right idea. She has survived decades of wars, deportation and oppression through making and selling shrouds for the dead, profiting from the continuous Israeli attacks.

The 51-day Israeli war on Gaza in summer 2014 proves highly lucrative, until her past returns to haunt her, forcing her to make a momentous decision. Her deliberations take us on a lifetime’s journey, telling a harrowing story of courage, love, escape and disappointment.

Leaving her village of Aqqur near Jerusalem as a young girl, Hajja Souad entered the service of the British High Commissioner in the late 1940s and grew up as an adopted daughter to his wife, who taught her English manners and elocution. But in the chaos of the British withdrawal, as the Union Jack is drawn down from the port of Haifa, Hajja was left alone to her fate in the abandoned mansion.

The Shroud Maker delves deep into the intimate life of ordinary Palestinians to weave a highly distinctive path through Palestine’s turbulent past and present. Loosely based on a real-life character still living in Gaza, this one-woman comedy weaves comic fantasy and satire with true stories told firsthand to the writer and offers a vivid portrait of Palestinian life in Gaza.

For more information about the play and to purchase tickets, please visit https://www.ivpchicago.org/the-shroud-maker-2023