Dreams do come true after all…

We are a trio of female artists collaborating across borders, building bridges between the Arab world and European theatre cultures. Over the past ten years we have been developing a stage version of Betool Khedairi’s novel, ABSENT.

This is the story of Dalal, a seventeen year old orphaned Iraqi young woman with a facial disfigurement set in 90s Baghdad under American bombing and terrible sanctions. It is a coming-of-age story told with humour and resilience about survival, friendship, and betrayal. It is staged in poor theatre aesthetics echoing the devastation and displacement of war.

Originally adapted from Betool’s novel as a full-cast play by Betool and Penny Black, but the pandemic struck and theatres closed. It was then re-written as a one woman show during lockdown. It is only now that the show will premiere in London in November 2025 opening the VOILA international festival.

Penny Black is an English playwright and translator who spent several years working in the Arab world; Cairo, Libya, Syria, both independently and with British Council support. She organised the first Arabic-speaking drama symposium together with RADA and the University of Hull.

Svetlana Dimcovic is an English-Serbian director and producer and has also worked internationally at scale, funded by British Council, Arts Council England and Creative Scotland.

Betool Khedairi is an Iraqi-Scottish author of two novels inspired by her life in Iraq. Translated into five languages, she presented her work during her international book tour while publishing articles in the Guardian-UK. She currently lives in Amman.

We feel this piece about a world seen through a teenager’s eyes would give opportunities to young Arab talent to get involved in expressing their identity.