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The Play’s the Thing
By Stephen Peithman
Culture Clashes
Five plays explore
how basic differences
can lead to conflict.
This month’s roundup of recently published plays centers
on five that explore conflict within and between
cultures.
George Packer’s Betrayed, which centers on the plight
of Iraqis who worked for the U.S. as translators in Baghdad,
began as an article in The New Yorker. Surprisingly, it makes a
gripping play, detailing how these workers become trapped
between the hostility of fellow Iraqis who consider them
traitors and the Americans unwilling to reward their service
by granting them asylum in our country. The result is not so
much an anti-Iraq war piece as it is a drama about the sort of
human dramas that are the inevitable by-product of any war.
Although the situation and historical facts makes a happy
ending impossible, Packer alleviates the tension with a good
deal of humor, and the bittersweet ending is not without
hope. Cast includes 15 males, five females; some parts can
be doubled. [Faber & Faber Books; includes licensing information]
The Overwhelming, by J.T. Rogers, is the story of
an American family, newly arrived in Rwanda in early
1994, who become embroiled in politically driven, lifethreatening
situations with no clue of how to deal with
them. The action develops in a series of short, sharply
drawn scenes that bring the characters to life while
exploring the tensions leading up to the tribal conflict
that eventually killed 800,000 Rwandans. Rogers brings
his point home to us by using as his central characters a
visiting American family who are witnesses to the horrific
events. In doing so, he helps us understand not only the
Rwandan genocide, but what led to it and what it tells us
about ourselves. Eight males, three females; some parts
can be doubled. [Faber & Faber Books; includes licensing
information]
On a much lighter note, Jim Knable’s Spain chronicles
a woman’s journey of self-discovery after an acrimonious
divorce. Dreaming of a new life in Spain, she conjures up
a dream lover — a sexy Spanish conquistador — and the
two of them begin a fantastical love affair as she discovers
more about herself than she might ever have dreamed.
It’s a funny play, although the second act isn’t as good as
the first. Still, the Conquistador and the Ancient (a sort of
Mayan figure) are intriguing comic characters. The New
York critics weren’t kind to Spain, but in the hands of a
strong cast and director, Knable’s dramatic comedy still
has much to offer. Three females, two males. [Broadway
Play Publishing]
In Huck & Holden, by Rajiv Joseph, a college student
from India named Navin comes to the U.S. to study engineering,
but ends up getting a first-hand look at some
other things America has to offer — like sex, porn and
J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. Navin has been
assigned to write a paper on two American literary rebels,
Holden Caulfield and Huckleberry Finn, and develops
an immediate fascination with Salinger’s anti-hero, who
reminds him of Singh, a classmate of his back in Calcutta.
Immediately, Navin’s vision of a Singh/Holden combo
becomes an imaginary advisor who turns up whenever
he needs help in dealing with the conflict between what
is expected of him by his family and his relationship
with an attractive and outspoken African American student
named Michelle. The author’s writing is smart and
sophisticated in its ability to see past stereotypes and
reveal his characters’ essential humanity in this outstanding
new play. Three males, two females. [Samuel French]
A cultural conflict of a very different sort is at the center
of Theresa Rebeck’s Abstract Expression, published in
a new edition by Samuel French. After a scathing review
15 years ago, a once-celebrated painter has faded into
obscurity, living with his daughter in poverty, creating
works that he shows only to her. Then a chance encounter
promises — or threatens — to relaunch his career.
With biting humor and considerable compassion, Rebeck
compares the gritty reality of people living from day to
day with the capriciousness of the art world, where fame
can be a matter of who you know and reputations can be
bought and sold. Six males, three females.
www.stage-directions.com • May 2008 41