REFUGEE examines the lives of two Serbian sisters displaced at the El Shatt refugee camp on the Sinai desert during World War II—and five decades later, their grandchildren, dispersed across two continents.
The story is loosely based on the historical sojourn of Dragina Kalanj (playwright’s mother), who came to El Shatt as a teenage girl, the beginning of an epic odyssey that thwarted a return to her native land—and family—until 25 years later. The play explores the memory of family, the search for identity and acceptance in a new land, as well as the myriad meanings of refugee and how that experience shapes one’s destiny—and creates generational aftershocks. REFUGEE also introduces audiences to a forgotten chapter of World War II, the El Shatt experience in Egypt, as well as to a “forgotten” or little-understood region of contemporary America: the people and culture of Southern Appalachia. REFUGEE is a play with music, composed and performed by Grammy-nominated musician, Tim Eriksen.