When the Phone Rang

In this searing adaptation of Youssef Alaoui's short story, "When the Phone Rang," Alaoui and Anton Bonnici spotlight just how much authoritarian rule posing as democracy has continued to endure unchecked and on steroids. Centering on a prisoner named Muhammad who is held captive for, in essence, "walk[ing] home with bread while being Arabic," the surreal twists and turns of this one-act play will be as much of a head trip to readers (and viewers) as it is to the man being senselessly tortured. And all those before and after him who have been made to suffer without any just cause.