Enter Ghost

Mariam drives Sonia to Ramallah in the West Bank. During the drive, Mariam tells Sonia that Mariam’s cousin, Wael Hejazi, is a popular singer who will be playing the role of Hamlet. He doesn’t have acting experience, but he can “draw in the crowds” (74). They arrive at the theatre in Ramallah, where Sonia meets the rest of the cast. After the read-through, they go to a café and discuss what the play means. They discuss how it relates to the circumstances in Palestine, although Sonia objects when one of the cast members, George, suggests that Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, is like Palestine because Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle, “raped” her. Afterward, Wael admits to Sonia that he doesn’t know who he is; he copies other people like an actor.

Ibrahim, Mariam, and Sonia go to Mariam’s house, where they will be staying. On the way, Mariam points out a hardware store where she and her husband got stuck during an Israeli bombing campaign during the Second Intifada (2000-2005). They get to Mariam’s house, where Sonia meets Mariam’s young son, Emil. Later, Mariam tells Sonia she wants Sonia to read the parts of both Ophelia, Hamlet’s love, and Gertrude. Sonia agrees to it.