When British playwright Josh Azouz first read about the Nazi-occupation of Tunisia during the Second World War, he found the circumstances around it so “absurd and surreal” that he often found himself laughing. Not, mind you, because it was funny, he tells The National from his home in London.
“It was because there was something so brutal about the occupation and its absurdity,” says Azouz. “Nazis with nicknames like Grandma and Memento in Tunisia. It sounded like a Western and I thought it would be interesting on stage using dark comedy.”
The result, Once Upon A Time in Nazi Occupied Tunisia, is a tragicomedy play that explores a period in history in 1943 when formerly co-existing Jewish and Muslim communities in the country were pitted against each other during the German occupation.
Simply yet skilfully staged using plain wooden crates and a suspended shimmering yellow circle, the opening scene immediately evokes a harsh and barren desert landscape.
Out of a hole cut in one of the boxes appears the head of Jewish prisoner, Victor, "buried" in sand up to his ears. His Muslim prison guard, Youssef, is a reluctant hand at the job, simultaneously trying to protect Victor and himself from the German soldiers – known locally as “blonds” – who are ultimately the real threat to them both.
“The Muslim population weren't collaborators in the same way that a lot of the Europeans were," says Azouz. "They'd been under so much colonial rule and the Nazis were just the next colonists and it's a very strange state of mind to be in when you wake up each day and there's a different person in charge. I thought that was so fascinating.”
At the outset of the Second World War, Tunisia was a French protectorate which then became Vichy Tunisia when the Nazis occupied France, and subsequently Tunisia. At the time of the invasion, the country was home to about 100,000 Jews.
While terrorising the Jewish population in Tunisia, the Nazis promised self-governance to the Muslims, wooing some into becoming allies of the occupying power. The complex web of betrayal and alliance that ensues among the different communities is captured through the changing friendship of four characters – Victor, his childhood friend Youssef and their wives, Loys and Faiza.
As Youssef slides into collaboration with the Nazis and fights off his feelings for Victor’s wife Loys, who herself struggles with conflicted loyalties, the unravelling of friendships reflects the societal strains of war and occupation.
It’s this “extreme and surreal” situation of previously co-existing communities suddenly expected to turn on each other that Azouz wanted to dramatise with comedy.
“I read how in one labour camp in Tunisia they kept rotating the Arab guards because they were getting way too friendly with the Jewish prisoners. I just thought that was ridiculous,” Azouz, 35, says.
That’s not to romanticise the time before Nazi occupation, Azouz points out, though he says his own research into this period has yielded starkly different accounts.
“I don't think the Jewish and Arab relationship was a big loving [one], but I think comparatively, it was quite rosy and they sort of just coexisted.”
Raised Sephardic Jewish, Azouz has Arab roots that trace to Syria and Iraq (as well as Turkey and Lithuania) but beyond his father cooing "mashallah habibi" at his grandson, the writer, who was raised in London, says he feels quite distant from his Arab heritage.
“That's probably why I wrote it. Because I wanted to sort of explore it and particularly before the creation of the State of Israel.”
Witty, cynical and darkly funny, the characters’ meaty dialogues raise thorny questions about how and why Israel came to be a country and who and what existed on the land beforehand.
“Regardless of what's going on today, I wanted to dramatise the compulsion and need for Jewish homeland from the Jewish characters' perspectives,” says Azouz, who skilfully builds up the panic and tension felt by Victor and Loys over their decision to leave the increasingly threatening environment in Tunisia, for Palestine.
Conversely, Faiza and Youssef challenge the narrative that Palestine was an uninhabited “backwater country” and pointedly remark to the fleeing couple the contradiction in them leaving one occupation for another.
“The other point is the colonist’s argument and is very difficult for a Jewish audience to hear, I think. So it's those two things that I wanted to sort of prod the audience with.”
Ultimately, Azouz says, all his characters are quite flawed. That’s what makes his play an interesting and authentic take on ordinary life under exceptional circumstances; one in which the messiness of choices and consequences are laid bare on stage.
Once Upon a Time in Nazi Occupied Tunisia is playing at the Almeida Theatre, London, until Saturday, September 18
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What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
How much of your income do you need to save?
The more you save, the sooner you can retire. Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.com, says if you save just 5 per cent of your salary, you can expect to work for another 66 years before you are able to retire without too large a drop in income.
In other words, you will not save enough to retire comfortably. If you save 15 per cent, you can forward to another 43 working years. Up that to 40 per cent of your income, and your remaining working life drops to just 22 years. (see table)
Obviously, this is only a rough guide. How much you save will depend on variables, not least your salary and how much you already have in your pension pot. But it shows what you need to do to achieve financial independence.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
- Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old
- Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old
- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
Indika
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
