Winner of The Women s Prize for Playwriting 2020, You Bury Me is an explosive political debut from Ahlam about a generation emerging from a national trauma, determined to live and love freely.

This story is about a city. A city of exhaust fumes, drunken phone calls, first kisses, hysteria, sweat and laughter. Cairo.

Coming of age in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, six young Egyptians navigate friendship, loss and secret Grindr dates in the city that made them.

ALIA An Egyptian. 22 years old. She has just graduated with an Engineering degree from Cairo University. She comes from a conservative Muslim family. Her paternal lineage have all served or are serving in the police. She s in love with Tamer.

TAMER An Egyptian. 22 years old. He has also graduated with an Engineering degree from Cairo University. He comes from a traditional Christian family. Christians in Egypt are primarily Copts (Egyptian Orthodox Christians). He s in love with Alia.

LINA An Egyptian. 17 years old. She s in high school. She comes from a traditional Christian family. She s still in the process of discovering her sexuality and gender.

MAYA An Egyptian. 18 years old. She s in the same high school as Lina. She comes from a left-leaning family, so her family aren t religious. They might be more agnostic or atheist but they don t label themselves as such, you could say they re culturally Muslim. Her parents are divorced and Osman is her half brother (same father).

OSMAN An Egyptian. 25 years old. He s a journalist and blogger. He was very active during the Egyptian uprising and wrote extensively about it. He s in love with Zeina, a staunch political activist.

RAFIK An Egyptian. 25 years old. He graduated with a degree in English literature from Cairo University. After graduating, he didn t know what he wanted to do and decided to just smoke his problems away.

THE CITY The city narrates, explains, confuses, comforts, challenges, shares its stories. The city should be played by all of the actors in the play.

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