As a child Ibrahim Miari said he grew up thinking everyone was “in between.” He is the son of a Palestinian Muslim father and a Jewish Israeli mother. 

“That was the normal lens in which I viewed the world,” Mr. Miari said in an interview on Friday, February 28, as he spent the day on campus visiting classes and then performing his semi-autobiographical, one-man show, In Between, in the evening. His show portrays the complexities of his Palestinian-Israeli identity.  

“Half of my family is Jewish and Hebrew speakers. Half are Muslim and Arabic speakers,” he said. “We got along really well, and we visited this side of the family and that side of the family. It enriched my world. That’s all I knew until people started asking me as a I grew up, ‘What do you feel? Where do you feel more comfortable?’ Those questions make you reflect and say, ‘You know what, it is a unique situation.’ And people will never really fully understand that I am 100 percent comfortable in both worlds. It is a bonus ... something to be proud of.” 

Mr. Miari’s visit was a collaboration among the Alvord Center for Global & Environmental Studies; the Norton Family Center for the Common Good; the Center for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; and the Performing Arts Department. His visit was funded by the Bussel Family International Lecture Fund. John Bussel ’87 is a Trustee; his daughter Miriam is a 2021 graduate.  

Associate Director of the Alvord Center Richard Karrat organized the visit. “I want to educate the students about the Middle East,” Richard said, “and learn that we can find more similarities than differences among ourselves. ... Ibrahim did a great job connecting and bringing us all together.” 

Mr. Miari has been performing the one-man show since 2009, when he developed it as his thesis project for his master’s degree from the Boston University College of Fine Arts. The play, he said, started as a collection of monologues that he delivered mostly in community centers in the Boston area. He then worked with a director and dramaturg to develop what would become a show of about one hour and 15 minutes. 

He often subtly alters the script to fit the times. “I allow myself to improvise on stage, to feel the audience, to be inspired, and to be in tune with what is happening in the world,” he said. “So if a big event happened close to the show, I find a way to say something without interrupting the flow of the show.” 

Mr. Miari’s website bills the play as touching on identity, culture, traditions, religion, and the tension between Israelis and Palestinians.  

“For me as an actor,” Mr. Miari said, “it’s not that I need to do this. I want to do this. I love doing this. It fulfills me. It is a way of expressing myself, creating space for my voice, and being able to share that with people is a privilege. And I'm extremely humbled and honored by that. It’s not so much therapeutic, even though the show is a semi-autobiographical piece, and I do deal with some trauma and conflict; otherwise, it wouldn’t be a play. To relive that is kind of stepping out of my own story and sharing it, which gives me more control of what I'm saying and what I'm feeling, but I don’t view it as therapy. It's just fun. ... Especially as a one-man show, to be on the stage alone and to engage the audience for over an hour, that is a challenge I always want to take on.” 

Mr. Miari has been an Arabic and Hebrew lecturer at various universities during his career and is in his 13th year as a lecturer in modern Hebrew language at the University of Pennsylvania. When he was on the Loomis campus, he conducted a workshop for acting students and spoke with Orchestra and Arabic students. At 7 p.m. he performed In Between in the Norris Ely Orchard Theater, followed by a question-and-answer session led by the Middle Eastern Society, Muslim Student Union, and Jewish Student Union affinity group leaders. 

“My hope is for everyone who sees the show … to think about what I said, maybe 10 minutes after the show, an hour after the show, and hopefully the next day as well,” Mr. Miari said. “I want to leave them with some questions. I try not to answer any question in the show. I just present my stories and the conflicts, and I basically show the ironies of being in between two worlds, the Israeli side and the Palestinian side, especially nowadays when they are in a huge conflict. So the hope is I bring a new perspective. I bring a message of hope. ... You can seek a way to live and let live and co-exist.”