Fair warning: Marina Otero does not do things by halves. In this new episode of her fictional, autobiographical series, the audience is immediately confronted with a voice telling Marina that her discourse on Gaza will be problematic in Germany. A man named Ayoub (real or imagined, we can never tell) has entered her life, and in his shadow there are one hundred and fifteen Gazan children of the same name, whose murder by the State of Israel she denounces. Hopelessly in love in an Arab land, she weds the cause of a people, if not her lover. The surprise ending creates distance, leaving an impossibly sweet balm in the wake of fury. Our certainties crumble into doubt and a multiplicity of possibilities. We are left breathless after this roller-coaster ride, hearts conquered by this astounding free-spirit.

Claire Verlet