Expressions: Theater as Activism: The Beekeeper of Aleppo

SJSU’s Department of Film and Theatre hosted a reading and a panel discussion on “The Beekeeper of Aleppo: Representing a Syrian Refugee Story on Stage.” Photo by Tram Le.

by Amna Yusuf, ’23 MA English

This article was originally published by the College of Humanities and the Arts in the spring 2023 edition of Expressions, a newsletter created by students in HA-187: Creative Team Practicum. The internship course gives students the opportunity to gain professional experience in writing, graphic design, photography, and video production.

An intimidating immigration officer questions Nuri and Afra, a recently arrived couple from Syria, at the Heathrow airport in London. “What are you doing here? Why are you here?” Who sent you?” The officer continues to ask rapid-fire questions about Aleppo, Syria, homes, jobs and family, and Nuri tries to answer as best as he can. There is a sharp contrast between the austerity of the officer’s questions and the fractured numbness of Nuri’s answers.

This scene begins a humorous, tender and heart-wrenching play. Adapted from Christy Lefteri’s novel of the same name, The Beekeeper of Aleppo is co-authored by Mathew Spangler, chair of SJSU’s Film and Theatre Department, and Nesrin Alrefaai, from the Middle East Centre, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Spangler’s current research focuses on the representation of refugees and asylum seekers in performing arts. Alrefaai grew up in Syria and immigrated to England after the war broke out. She is a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics and works with refugees as a translator.

Spangler and Alrefaai aim to counteract the polarizing perception of refugees as either the perfect victims worthy of pity or the opposing view of refugees as violent aliens in western societies. As victims, refugees are pitied, commodified and politicized for progressive agendas, and as violent aliens, the refugees are feared and demonized. The playwrights assert that both of these stereotypes are dehumanizing. Spangler and Alrefaai do not idealize or patronize any characters; instead, they attempt to tell a deeply human story of loss and trauma. Alrefaai explains, “The idea of loss is universal.”

Matthew Spangler, chair of SJSU’s Film and Theatre Department, spoke at a staged reading of “The Beekeeper of Aleppo” earlier this spring. Photo by Tram Le.

On March 6, SJSU’s Department of Film and Theatre hosted a reading and a panel discussion on “The Beekeeper of Aleppo: Representing a Syrian Refugee Story on Stage.” This project is funded by Susan Johnson Global Engagement Fund, and the event was the first part of the larger months-long project on Contesting Anti-Muslim Racism Through Theater. It is no coincidence that both Spangler and Alrefaai are educators, scholars and playwrights. Spangler calls universities “hives of creativity” for meaningful art and innovative ideas to fight social issues. Universities aren’t responsible for only intellectual growth and advancing individual careers; universities can build more inclusive societal values by creating generative dialogue.

For such a project to be hosted at SJSU is especially meaningful. As Spangler explains, California is home to several refugee and immigrant communities, many of whom left their ancestral homes because of violence and loss. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there are 32.5 million refugees and 4.9 million asylum seekers. Santa Clara County, home to SJSU, is currently designated as a refugee- impacted county. 

Spangler defines theater as an immediate and interactive experience in which “live bodies move on a stage right in front of the audience, only a touchable distance away.” Theater engages emotions without getting didactic and judgmental. Spangler asserts, “theater is a political act,” an intense and moving experience in a way that other mediums are not. Theater is activism against stereotypes. In this play, Spangler and Alrefaai have found a medium to tell Nuri and Afra’s story of loss and trauma.

Playwrights and actors explored themes of “The Beekeeper of Aleppo” at a panel event this spring. Photo by Osejieme Akhile.

The beautiful yet haunting play revolves around the lives of Nuri, a beekeeper in Aleppo, Syria, and his wife, Afra, an artist. Nuri and Afra lead simple but rich lives. After the war in Syria and the immense loss that came with it, Nuri and Afra undertake a treacherous journey from Syria to Turkey to Greece and finally arrive in the United Kingdom. The play begins with them physically safe in England as the story focuses on how the couple emotionally survives loss.

Alrefaai explains that they wanted to depict people with “well-lived, productive lives in pre-war Syria.” With creative stage design, the play presents a busy city full of vibrant colors, fields of poppies, bright sunshine, dramatic moonlight, and people with jobs, goals and dreams. Before the assumed victimhood, Nuri and Afra had a successful beekeeping business and made art that won awards. The playwrights explain that they wanted to show how immense loss can be—loss of not just home but a family, city, country, language and culture.

The play has surprising moments of humor, laughter and tenderness, showing ordinary life before the war. Apart from serving as relief for the audience, the humor often reflects real life, countering the refugee-as-victim narrative. Even amid sadness and danger, life can be absurd and comical. An example is a conversation between Nuri and a ten-year-old-boy Mohammad. They are in a boat crossing treacherous international waters. Mohammad is afraid of the water, knowing that refugees have drowned in these waters. Yet, at the same time, the young boy asks exasperating “are-we-there-yet?” questions like any average ten- year-old.

Alrefaai says that they wrote the characters as intimately relatable: husband and wife bicker, friends banter, children play, families bond over shared meals, couples lose homes, men lose their livelihoods, parents lose children and people face reticent government officials. She hopes these human interactions on stage challenge the audience to rethink refugee stereotypes.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo focuses on how trauma and loss can impact intimate relationships, particularly the marriage between Nuri and Afra. An explosion has blinded Afra, and although Nuri takes care of her needs, he can no longer bear to touch her and struggles to share a bed with her. He becomes emotionally unavailable, yet she yearns to be held. Spangler explains that their marriage is the fulcrum of the play. He stresses, “relationships define us no matter where we are born or what race or ethnicity we are.” The audience can see dynamics of their own relationships reflected in Nuri and Afra.

Julie Terebkov, a graduate student and teaching associate in the Department of Communication Studies, traveled to London with other SJSU students and faculty members to watch the first preview. She appreciates the realistic way the play shows the audience how some people become numb and pull away, and others become desperate to hold on when faced with loss. She says, “human relationships are complicated, and when faced with trauma, they tend to become even more complex.” The play shows both Nuri and Afra in ways that will resonate with how many people react in the face of tragedy. “People like to see themselves in art; we are narcissistic beings,” Terebkov says.

Another universal theme that the co-authors want to emphasize is mental health—particularly PTSD in refugees. Afra’s depression and psychosomatic blindness and Nuri’s fractured consciousness show how trauma and loss can affect memory differently. Even when Nuri is physically safe, a seemingly unconnected trigger pulls him back into the vortex of previous trauma. Terbekov, who is studying embodied trauma for her graduate thesis, points out that loss and trauma often manifest not just in sadness but also in “bursts of frustration, confusion and even a sense of bizarre humor. Grief is not linear.” Terebkov calls the portrayal of this chaotic coexistence of past and present a “beautiful mess.” She explains that language often fails to define and express trauma. “Theater can give us the vocabulary to talk about trauma,” Alrefaai says. Such conversations can be “taboo and considered a personal weakness” in many immigrant communities.

Nesrin Alrefaai, from the Middle East Centre, London School of Economics and Political Science, co-authored the theatrical adaptation of “The Beekeepers of Aleppo” with Matthew Spangler. Photo by Tram Le.

Alrefaai is passionate about unveiling anti-immigrant government policies that help perpetuate stereotypes of refugees as burdens on society. She explains that governmental policies often hinder asylum seekers from getting jobs because of work permit requirements. Alrefaai suggests a better question is whether refugees are legally allowed to work in fields where they have experience or live where they can find accommodation.

Alrefaai wants to show the humanity of refugees regardless of what part of the world they were born in. She says, “many refugees are not Muslim and not ethnically, culturally or racially Middle Eastern.” Moreover, she wants the play to question the reductive and dehumanizing stereotype of the “voiceless, submissive, vulnerable female in the Middle East.”

During a panel discussion on March 6, a woman with red-rimmed eyes asked in a shaky voice, “how can anyone understand the depth of loss we went through?” Alrefaai answered, “Nuri and Afra’s story is in no way the Syrian refugee story or the Syrian experience. It is only one of many, many stories.” She smiles gently and continues, “but the more stories we hear, the wider our worldview becomes.”

People want to hear stories, and stories humanize the “other” more effectively than the terrifying news cycle, didactic documentaries, alarming statistics and jarring photographs. Terebkov calls these images “beige photos” of war, rubble and sand—while the “play on the stage is like a coloring book we see being painted in front of our eyes.”

Nuri, the titular beekeeper of Aleppo, tells the audience why he admires bees: “They are like a society in complete harmony with itself. Not like people at all, but maybe what people have the potential to be.”

Learn more about Expressions, the College of Humanities and the Arts’ HA-187: Creative Team Practicum internship.