PAPAL FICTION BY ISMAIL KHALIDI
"I do not know what I expect from you, or from any man of importance anymore. I only thought I should thank you for easing the pain in my feet for a couple hours-"
The Pope bathes the feet of a nameless Palestinian woman in Bethlehem. She writes him a year later when he recognizes Palestine...a place she can barely recognize herself...
*Papal Fiction was originally written for Noor Theatre's 48 Hour Forum.
Born in Beirut to Palestinian parents and raised in Chicago, Ismail Khalidi is a playwright and director. Khalidi holds an MFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and is the author of the award-winning play Tennis in Nablus. His plays have been produced and read at theaters and universities around the country and abroad, including Atlanta's Tony Award-winning Alliance Theatre (Tennis in Nablus, 2010). Khalidi's other plays include Truth Serum Blues, which was commissioned and produced by Pangea World Theater (2005), Final Status, and Sabra Falling.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/27/world/middleeast/vatican-palestinian-state.html?_r=0