SWITCH
A new experiential performance
IN DEVELOPMENT
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IN DEVELOPMENT -
Created by Aviva Arts Artistic Director Debórah Eliezer
Director: Amal Bisharat
Environmental Designer: Noor Adabachi
Dramaturg: Denmo Ibrahim
Cultural Consultant: Hadar Cohen
Organizational Partners: MEEM Collective
In a time marked by rising islamophobia, antisemitism, and cultural division, SWITCH asks:
What does it mean to be American when every part of you is viewed with suspicion?
How do mixed-heritage people navigate systems that invalidate their existence?
This new world premiere play will dismantle binary narratives, reveal unexpected solidarities between Arab Jews and Palestinians, and encourage audiences to confront detrimental cultural scripts they may carry.
What are we willing to risk to know the truth?
SWITCH is a bold, immersive new play and participatory installation that explores the processes of believing and un-believing as they relate to cultural belonging, identity formation, and survival. SWITCH uplifts the least-heard stories of SWANA (SW Asian/North African) American identity, with particular focus on multiracial and multi-faith first-generationals navigating a world which demands assimilation at high costs.
How do we dismantle deeply-ingrained belief systems?
Rooted in the lived experiences of Arab Jews and Palestinian Americans with mixed cultural heritage, SWITCH tells the parallel stories of two characters—each with one white parent and one Arab parent—who struggle to make sense of themselves while growing up in the East Bay in the 1970s when the rise of cult movements peaked and coercive persuasion overlapped with a broader cultural reckoning around race, identity, and belonging.
Drawing on theories of intersectionality (Kimberlé Crenshaw), documentary storytelling, psychologist Margaret Singer’s brainwashing studies, and sociolinguist Einar Haugen’s research on code-switching as a survival mechanism to cope within a system that was not designed for us.