'Between the River and the Sea' with actor Yousef Sweid
- Yousef Sweid
- Date
- Monday 16 February 2026
- Time
- Address
-
Lipsius
Cleveringaplaats 1
2311 BD Leiden - Room
- 0.19
About the play
Join an evening of theatre and conversation with acclaimed actor Yousef Sweid, on Monday 16 February 18:00 - 20:00 in Leiden's Lipsius Building, hall 0.19
A Palestinian-Israeli who grew up in Haifa, Sweid premiered his solo play Between the River and the Sea at the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Since then, he has performed it to sold-our audiences at Berlin’s Maxim Gorki Theater. Following his appearance in Leiden, the production will move to London’s The Royal Court Theatre, where it has already sold out. Based on his life story, Sweid's deeply personal work explores identity, belonging, and cultural hybridity. Praised for its raw honesty, dark humor, and nuance, the performance illuminates the artist’s lived experience, a life suspended between languages, cultures, and conflicting historical narratives.
“Uncomfortable, unforgettable, unfiltered… This play is an extraordinary act of empathy, that neither thinks nor behaves in the way you expect or might want it to… With biting humor and raw honesty, Sweid weaves personal stories, political reflection, and absurd everyday moments into a sharp, unflinching solo performance. ” –– Tom Carter, London Theatre Review
Sweid's remarkable career in theater, television, and film spans 25 years, with appearances in productions such as HBO's Game of Thrones and Nexflix’s Homeland, Unorthodox, and Woman of the Dead. He joins us in Leiden for a special evening, featuring a performance of his play—written with and directed by Isabella Sedlak—followed by a conversation with the audience. At a time when division and conflict dominate global headlines, we invite our university community to listen, reflect, question, and embrace complexity through art.
Between the River and the Sea: An Evening with Yousef Sweid
Seats are limited, please register through the link: https://www.formdesk.com/universiteitleiden/SweidRiverSea
‘Radio Israel/Palestine’ podcast
Thirty students from MA programs across the university are hard at work recording the second season of the ‘Radio Israel/Palestine’ podcast, which will become publicly available on Spotify and Apple Podcastst following the evening with Sweid. The series is produced as part of the course Radio Palestine/Israel: Voices in Conflict, co-taught by Dr. Noa Schonmann and journalist Rajaa Natour. It engages students in deep and difficult conversations with people from Israel and Palestine whose views both challenge and inspire them. The podcast tunes into voices from the region to explore what values and experiences shape people’s political stances, how they opt to express their political voices, what’s at stake when their voices challenge consensus, and what they seek to achieve by speaking out.
