From Surgipelago, the Beach Surgery encyclopedia
Palestinian shadow-puppet theatre
This article concerns the Palestinian shadow-puppet tradition (Khayāl al-Ẓill) and its adaptations of Beach Surgery. For the Turkish form, see Karagöz.
The tradition
Khayāl al-Ẓill (shadow-play) is a centuries-old Levantine performance art: a single bright lamp casts hand-cut leather puppets against a translucent screen, creating silhouettes accompanied by live music, sung dialogue, and audience participation. Historically used for epic narratives, political commentary, and folk history, the form fell into decline during colonialism but has experienced revival and reclamation in Palestinian cultural work.
Beach Surgery and shadow-doubling
The tradition's central metaphor—a single light source creating two worlds, silhouette and absence—maps naturally onto the novel's glitch and Leif's blindness. Palestinian adaptations have exploited this: Katita and Leif exist simultaneously as shadow and as the invisible hand that moves the shadow. The lamp becomes the radio frequency that corrects or corrupts sight. Multiple figures can occupy a single shadow; the screen becomes a threshold between city and interior.
Notable works
The Red Meridian Shadow Cycle (████ , 2019) runs five nights, each focused on one chapter of the novel. Leif's Blinding, A Three-Night Performance (████ , 2021) remounts only Chapters 1, 3, and 5—deliberately omitting the even-numbered chapters—creating a broken narrative that mirrors the glitch. [citation needed]