Theatre
Sample of some of the plays I wrote/directed
The Shroud Maker
2016 - Present (Latest Pleasance Theatre September 2026)
Written and Directed by: Ahmed Masoud
Designed by: Dima Karout
Performed by: Amina Adileh
Tours: London, Manchester, Liverpool, Plymouth, Dublin, Greenbelt Festival, Milton Keynes, Greenwich Theatre
Hajja Souad, an 84-year-old Palestinian woman living in the besieged Gaza Strip, knows about business. She has survived decades of wars and oppression by making shrouds for the dead. A compelling black comedy, The Shroud Maker delves deep into the intimate life of ordinary Palestinians to weave a highly distinctive path through Palestine’s turbulent past and present. Loosely based on a real-life character still living in Gaza, this one-woman comedy weaves comic fantasy and satire with true stories told first-hand to the writer and offers a vivid portrait of Palestinian life in Gaza underscored with gallows humour.
Obliterated
London, 9 August 2019
Written and Directed by: Ahmed Masoud
Designed by: Clio Capelle
Performed by: Maxine Peake
Obliterated was a theatrical experiment and an artistic protest where there as never a play or a production. I wanted to highlight what it felt like to have art and theatre taken away from the audience in protest of the bombing of the El Mishal Cultural Centre in Gaza.
Camouflage
London, 18 May 2017
Written and Directed by: Ahmed Masoud
Designed by Clio Capelle
Performed by: James El Sharawy
How does one survive under military occupation? How do young people see the situation? Do they try to resist it? Run away? Give up? What do they care about most? Four young Palestinians had the right ideas; they survived through staring danger in the face.
Camouflage is a new, daring play, which looks at the experience of a Palestinian refugee trying to flee the conflict in Syria, a young girl in Ramallah falling in love for the first time, a boy in Gaza trying to find a date and an aspiring actor in Haifa who has to come to terms with the unjust society he lives in.
The play is a dark comedy by acclaimed Palestinian writer Ahmed Masoud, which marks the 50th anniversary of the Israeli military occupation in Gaza, Jerusalem and the West Bank - Palestine, looking at the issues that really matter for young people. The play also commemorates the 69th anniversary of the Nakba.
Thaer is a thirteen-year-old boy on a boat in the waters between Turkey and Greece, something is troubling him and it is not the fact that he might drown any minute. Nibal is a seventeen-year-old girl finishing her SAT exams in an American-style school in Ramallah. She is constantly refusing marriage proposals from well-suiters, but she can’t resist one guy. Twenty-year-old Zeid is a taxi driver in Gaza who is using Tinder to try to find a date. Sami’s dream is to become a famous actor, he has to play a few roles in Haifa in order to build his CV and get known with Israeli established directors.
Camouflage is a one-person show, which presents a collage of theatrical genres taking the audience on a journey of what it means to live under occupation.
Application 39
Set in Gaza in the year 2040 — following a catastrophic genocide in 2025 and a subsequent ceasefire — APPLICATION 39 posits a fragmented Gaza divided into smaller states, run by drones and robots. A municipality’s IT department submits a spoof Olympic bid (‘Application Number 39’) to host the 2048 Summer Games, 100 years after the Nakba — and, against all odds, is awarded the right. What follows is a journey of reconstruction, absurdist ambition and radical hope: underground tunnels become stadiums; surveillance drones become torch‑bearers; bureaucracy becomes resistance.
Passports, Mo Salah, Jinn and Other Complicated Things
Writers Ahmed Masoud and Farah Chamma present an experimental new performance, presented both live and digitally, work exploring Palestinian identity beyond borders at Unity Theatre.
For Palestinians, places and journeys have different meanings than others. Cities, towns, villages, borders, taxis, buses, officials, passports, ID cards and identity all come with a burden of history and existential issues.
From being a writer in the UK, Dubai or Brazil to having passports thrown in their faces, asked intimate questions at airports or checkpoints, Palestinian writers Ahmed Masoud and Farah Chamma process this experience differently. Armed with a paper and pen, they let a stream of consciousness find its way through the pages. They observe, write and often fill forms for other Palestinians who have never travelled before and just wait, like everyone else.
“What is your name?”, is the question often asked while officials stare at the passports for what seems like an endless moment.
“Mo Salah”, Ahmed often replies.
Combining elements of poetry, prose, music and theatre, Ahmed (on stage in person) and Farah (appearing digitally), will present a new performance work reflecting recent events in their individual lives, including travels to Egypt, Jordan and Palestine. The work will reflect a common interest in the supernatural, superstitious and mythical stories they’ve encountered during their travels.