Two plays that bring together Palestinians and Jews in what once was called Palestine and is now called Israel. In The Mulberry Tree, friends and neighbors in a mixed village of Jews and Palestinians struggle to maintain friendships and lives during the year 1948, as the place called Palestine is removed from the map of the world. The Return begins when two people meet in an auto-repair shop. One is Palestinian, one is Israeli Jewish. They may or may not have known each other in the past. By the end, both of their lives will be changed forever by the realities of present-day Israel. The Return was one of the first plays to be performed by a Palestinian company in Hebrew for a mixed audience of Israeli Jews and Palestinians inside Israel. The Mulberry Tree is scheduled for a world premiere in New York City in 2024. “The Return is a taut, politically charged two-hander . . . underscores the ways that simple one-on-one human relationships are often the principal casualties of unending conflict, while raising wider questions about what such conflicts can do to a nation’s soul.” — The Boston Globe