The Vagrant Trilogy: Three Plays by Mona Mansour

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“The [Vagrant Trilogy] extends far beyond the timeline of devastating events, and instead shows us something greater: humanity.” – Broadway World The Vagrant Trilogy is a set of three plays by award-winning Arab American playwright Mona Mansour which explores the Palestinian condition prior to, during, and after the infamous Six-Day War. It sketches the devastating effect this conflict had on members of the Palestinian diaspora scattered in Europe and in Lebanese refugee camps.
With productions in Washington DC, New York, and Abu Dhabi, this trilogy has moved audiences across both America and the Arabic-speaking world. The Hour of Feeling, The Vagrant, and Urge for Going offer a deep exploration of the Palestinian struggle for home and identity, a powerful glimpse into a reality that many face and few understand.
The volume includes a foreword by director Mark Wing-Davey; an introduction by Arab American theatre scholars Hala Baki and Michael Malek Najjar; the three plays in their final performance versions; an interview with playwright Mona Mansour; and a critical essay by literary scholar Diya Abdo. This collection of Mansour’s outstanding plays is another important contribution to the Arab American theatrical canon and the larger body of American drama.

Mona Mansour‘s play The Vagrant Trilogy made its New York City debut in April 2022 at the Public Theater, directed by Mark Wing-Davey. It was originally presented at Mosaic Theater in June 2018. Other plays include: Unseen (Oregon Shakespeare Festival, 2022); We Swim, We Talk, We Go to War (Golden Thread, 2018); The Way West (Labyrinth, Village Theatre, Steppenwolf, Marin Theatre Company); In The Open (Waterwell). Mona was a member of the Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group. Her commissions include Playwrights Horizons, La Jolla Playhouse, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s “American Revolutions.” Awards include the 2012 Whiting Award, 2014 Middle East America Playwright Award, 2018 MacDowell Colony Fellowship, and 2020 Helen Merrill Award. Mansour is a resident playwright at New Dramatists (Class of 2020).

1. Acknowledgements
2. Dedication
3. List of Photographs
4. Foreword by director Mark-Wing Davey
5. Introduction by editors Hala Baki & Michael Malek Najjar
7. A Note on the Texts
8. The Plays
Part 1: The Hour of FeelingPart 2: The VagrantPart 3: Urge for Going9. Afterword by Mona Mansour
10. Critical Essay by Dr Diya Abdo
10. Notes and Bibliography

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