THEM is award-winning playwright Samah Sabawi’s powerful drama about war, hope, and survival. Through the use of humor, laughter, and song, THEM transports audiences into the extraordinary circumstances that reveal their shared humanity and the ordinary moments that shape their lives. Sabawi says, “Any of us could be them. Our lives, even in tragic moments, have moments of humanity and humor and love and kindness… I wrote THEM to bring the music, the humor, and love as well as the horrific reality of life in a war zone.” The play was written in response to the heightening anti-immigrant tensions she witnessed while living in Finland and Australia. “The divisive ‘us’ and ‘them’ dehumanizing discourse is prevalent in many western liberal nations,” Sabawi says.

THEM is directed by University of Oregon Theatre Arts Professor Malek Najjar, who has been awarded the 2025 University of Oregon Presidential Fellow in Arts Award and the James F. Miller Artistic Development Fund for Faculty in Theatre Arts. Najjar, who is an award-winning director and scholar who focuses his artistic practice and scholarship on Arab American and Middle Eastern American Theatre, chose to produce and direct THEM as his response to the rising anti-immigrant, anti-Middle Eastern sentiment he has witnessed since the last U.S. presidential election. “We are facing unprecedented attacks on artistic expression, academic freedom, and immigrants in this country,” Najjar says. “THEM is an attempt to give value to the lives of those who are suffering in wars and conflicts that are funded and perpetuated by western powers that have turned a blind eye to the plight of millions of innocent civilians who are dying every day.”

The play features Portland-based actor Dré Slaman, and Eugene-based actors Zayne Clayton, Akash Dhruva, Manny Rojas Meza, and Trevor Tarantino. Live music will be performed by Eugene-based “Acoustic Pilgrims” aka Wayne and Denise Gilbertson.