The Vine That Withers.

Two friends, one café. Trying to build stability.

In a city where starting over never really ends, Dalia and Layal, two Syrian immigrants, are doing everything right and still falling behind.

At Waraq Enab Café—“Vine Leaves Café”—the dream of independence begins to carry more weight than either of them expected. The café is a business, but it is also proof: proof that they are capable, that they are moving forward, and that the lives they imagined for themselves are still within reach.

As pressure builds, small compromises begin to feel necessary. Then normal. Then unavoidable.

Driven by different needs—one trying to hold on to who she believes she is, the other focused on survival—Dalia and Layal begin crossing lines they once believed in.

Set inside an intimate Toronto café, The Vine That Withers is a tense, character-driven new play about survival, identity, and the compromises we make to hold on to who we believe we are.