Entra el fantasma

Sonia Nasir, a 38-year-old British actress of Palestinian descent, travels to Israel to visit her sister, who teaches at the University of Haifa. She soon meets other people, including Mariam Mansour, a theater director planning to stage an Arabic version of *Hamlet* in Ramallah (West Bank). Upon learning that Sonia is an experienced stage actress, Mariam recruits her for the production's cast. Her return to her homeland, her travels across the region (Haifa, Gaza, Bethlehem, Jerusalem), her interactions with the actors, memories of her father and uncle’s activism, and the indelible shadow of the Intifadas stir a whirlwind of emotions in Sonia. Combined with her immediate experiences, these factors force her to confront an unexpected dilemma: what it means to be Palestinian and to live in a state of perpetual conflict with Israel. The *Hamlet* production itself gradually takes on nuances that mirror the underlying conflict; the ghost of the late King of Denmark ultimately becomes identified with the specter of the occupation.