{"title":"Marcus Youssef","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"adventures-of-ali-ali-and-the-axes-of-evil-book-marcus-youssef-9780889225169","title":"Adventures of Ali \u0026 Ali and the aXes of Evil","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn this elaborate agitprop theatrical collaboration, the internal contradictions and duplicitous double-speak of the \"war on terror\" are exposed as the propaganda vehicles for the neo-colonialism of the West that they are. \"Ali Hakim\" and \"Ali Ababwa,\" refugees from the imaginary country \"Agraba,\" attempt to seduce their audience into providing them with food, refuge, security, freedom and the material benefits of Western consumer society, failing miserably at every step. A hard-hitting presentation of a play-within-a-play assaults the audience as Youssef, Verdecchia and Chai do Shakespeare, Shaw and Swift one better with an endless string of buffooneries and absurdities derived from an inversion of the clichés defining the geo-politics of the Middle East at the beginning of the 21st century.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Informed by the research of Paul Krugman and Noam Chomsky, sent up by the post-modern cultural relativism of \"Jean Paul Jacques Beauderrièredada,\" this political satire is not for the faint of heart.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Cast of 4 men.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49601915552017,"sku":"GOR006529908","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50373104173329,"sku":"CIN0889225168VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51102825971985,"sku":"NIN9780889225169","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52670928879889,"sku":"NLS9780889225169","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0889225168.jpg?v=1751456666"},{"product_id":"in-between-book-marcus-youssef-9781772012408","title":"The In-Between","description":"\u003cp\u003eLily has always felt in-between. She looks Vietnamese but thinks of herself as white - her parents adopted her from an orphanage in Vietnam. Her parents both have good jobs, but her best friend Brit is always super broke. When Karim - a guy she's liked for a long time - shows interest in her for the first time, Brit starts to hang out with some grade-twelves who wear T-shirts saying \"white pride.\" After Karim confronts Brit about her racism, a series of fear-induced misunderstandings lead to a lockdown, and Lily finds herself truly in-between, forced to make seemingly impossible choices about whose side she's on, and which friend she's going to believe. Set in a school facing the real-life challenges of immigration, income inequality, and fears of violence, The In-Between is a realistic, complex, and believable exploration of the conflicts students navigate in contemporary schools. Like Youssef's international hit Jabber, seen by hundreds of thousands of young people across North America and Europe and winner of Berlin's Ikarus Prize, The In-Between brings humour, sensitivity, and a deftly authentic ear to the adult-sized questions all young people must begin to confront as they enter their later teens.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCast of 2 women and 1 man. Alternatively, one or more characters could be non-binary.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49742353039633,"sku":"NGR9781772012408","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51049307570449,"sku":"NIN9781772012408","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52452223877393,"sku":"NLS9781772012408","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1772012408.jpg?v=1750801366"},{"product_id":"winners-and-losers-book-marcus-youssef-9780889229327","title":"Winners and Losers","description":"\u003cp\u003eTwo buddies, theatre artists and long-time friends Marcus and James, sit at a table and pass the time together playing a made-up game in which they name people, places, or things - Pamela Anderson, microwave ovens, their fathers, Goldman Sachs - and debate whether they are successful or not; in other words, whether they are winners or losers. Each friend seeks to defeat the other, and because one of these men grew up economically privileged, and the other did not, the competition very quickly adds up.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWinners and Losers showcases the work of two giants of the Vancouver indie theatre scene. James Long's Theatre Replacement develops work specific to particular places and the people who live in them. Marcus Youssef's Neworld Theatre investigates questions of power, culture, and belonging.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTheir first collaborative work is a staged conversation that embraces the ruthless logic of capitalism, and tests its impact on our closest personal relationships as well as our most intimate experiences of self.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCast of 2 men\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50373145461009,"sku":"CIN0889229325G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52353052410129,"sku":"CIN0889229325VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52353252688145,"sku":"NLS9780889229327","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0889229325.jpg?v=1751139792"},{"product_id":"jabber-book-marcus-youssef-9781772015010","title":"Jabber","description":"\u003cp\u003eLike many outgoing young women, Fatima feels rebellious against parents she sees as strict. It just so happens that she is Egyptian-born and wears a hijab. When anti-Muslim graffiti appears on the walls of her school, Fatima transfers to a new school. The guidance counsellor there, Mr. E., does his best to help Fatima fit in, but despite his advice she starts an unlikely friendship with Jorah, who has a reputation for anger issues. Maybe, just maybe, Fatima and Jorah start to, like, like each other ...\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAs their mutual attraction grows, the lines Fatima and Jorah cross as they grow closer become the subject of an intense exploration of boundaries - personal boundaries, cultural boundaries, and inherited religious and political boundaries. Fatima and Jorah discover that appearances matter; they've been exposed for their whole lives to images that begin to colour their relationship: images of the Middle East, the working class, and how teenage boys and teenage girls behave. Put all these reactive factors together in the social laboratory that is a high school and observe: is there a solution for Fatima and Jorah?\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHigh school, like no other social space, throws together people of all histories and backgrounds, and young people must decide what they believe in and how far they are willing to go to defend their beliefs. Inside a veritable pressure cooker, they negotiate cross-cultural respect and mutual understanding. Jabber does its part to challenge appearances - and the judgments people make based on those appearances.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCast of 1 woman and 2 men\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52150251225361,"sku":"NLS9781772015010","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781772015010.jpg?v=1757609505"},{"product_id":"king-arthur-s-night-and-peter-panties-book-marcus-youssef-9781772012033","title":"King Arthur's Night and Peter Panties","description":"\u003cp\u003eAmong the first by a writer with Down syndrome, these two plays demonstrate an ability to riff and shift perspective, with disarming, hilarious, and occasionally heart-stopping results. Based on the iconic stories of King Arthur and Peter Pan, they are modern-day mash-ups that meld the fictional, the meta-fictional, and the real in ways that are counter-intuitive and absurd. And they're musical! Both feature songs by beloved Vancouver musician Veda Hille, with lyrics by the playwrights.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eKing Arthur's Night is a musical extravaganza in which King Arthur banters with Merlin and romances Guinevere. An upside-down world ... a betrayed love ... an unwanted child ... a revolt by the subjugated masses ... a kingdom come undone. It leaves one pondering mysteries both absurd (how did the Round Table get to Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia?) and profound (what is the link between the soul and intelligence?).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePeter Panties is a radical re-imagining of the Peter Pan story in which Peter Pan and Captain Hook (or is he Macbeth?) drink lattes, the Lost Boys hang with detectives from CSI, and Tinkerbell and Wendy duke it out at Skull Rock. Peter is conflicted about growing up - \"Fuck that! No mustache!\" - but he also desperately wants to have sex with Wendy and make a baby. The situation is funny, but aching; sexual exclusion and the denial of full adulthood are no laughing matters for people whose lives include Down syndrome.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMcNeil's singular voice and imaginative inner landscape are at the centre of these works, and in them entirely new worlds and languages are invented. Through dialogue and play, through the power of association, he subverts expectations. In these plays McNeil and Youssef challenge the classifications that \"neurotypicals\" presume must be the only legitimate means of perceiving and naming the world.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eKing Arthur's Night: cast of 4 women, 6 men, and 2 musicians\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePeter Panties: cast of 4 women, 5 men, and 3 children\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52689273192721,"sku":"NLS9781772012033","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781772012033.jpg?v=1762334936"},{"product_id":"adrift-book-marcus-youssef-9780889225855","title":"Adrift","description":"\u003cp\u003eA group of almost-over-the-hill urban Egyptian hipsters gathers every night on a Cairo houseboat where they smoke weed, gab on their cell phones, and rag on everything they think is messing up their lives. Led by their master of ceremonies, a near catatonic petty bureaucrat named Anis, they get baked and try to forget that secularists like them are being shunted to the sidelines in the wave of alleged fundamentalist Islamic politics sweeping Egypt and much of the Arab world. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen Samara, a young Islamic journalist joins the group, however, Anis's spell is broken. From the moment he sees this hijab-clad woman, he starts to remember the ugly journey that brought him to his almost total detachment from the harsh realities of the outside world. Threatened by this incursion into their long-established sanctuary, his buddies try to drive Samara away. But Anis resists. He has fallen in love. Unfortunately for him, however, this seemingly devout journalist also has a couple of secrets of her own. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhile \u003ci\u003eAdrift\u003c\/i\u003e begins as a stoners' drawing-room comedy, it ends in random, chaotic tragedy--by the end of the play the Nile River houseboat feels like it's been transplanted to flood-ravaged New Orleans. It is a play about the tragedy of the innocents caught between the Holy Wars of our twenty-first century. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eInspired by the novel \u003ci\u003eAdrift on the Nile\u003c\/i\u003e by Egyptian Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz, \u003ci\u003eAdrift\u003c\/i\u003e is set against the backdrop of the US war on Iraq and a region burdened by the gorgon-head legacies of colonialism, corruption and violent dictatorship. It is about a group of people at the epicentre of conflict between the West's ever-accelerating and utterly ahistorical imperial culture, and its doppelg nger: the tide of religious fundamentalism that is growing ever more powerful in its wake. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCast of 4 women and 6 men.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52690022007057,"sku":"NLS9780889225855","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780889225855.jpg?v=1762336762"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-ie\/collections\/author-books-by-marcus-youssef.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}