|
WINDY CITY TIMES
|
|
|
Morocco
Playwright: Allan Havis
by Mary Shen Barnidge 2001-05-16
|
|
This article shared 2397 times since Wed May 16, 2001
|
|
"You have been watching too many movies!" the officer we know only as "The Colonel" snaps at Charles Kempler. He's right. We've watched the same movies. We know that a man may be courteous, cultured, soft-spoken...and still be a villain. And that a hero may be impatient, ill-mannered and steadfast in his beliefs to the point of bigotry. Indeed, the latter's very intolerance proclaims him immune to intimidation through strength or sophistry.
And besides, this is the ( ominous music ) Middle East. The Colonel is Islamic, an Arab, the chief of police in Fez, and Kempler is a tourist, an architect, an American citizen...he's even Jewish! So when we hear that Kempler's wife has been jailed for drunkenness, disorderly conduct, and soliciting soldiers, we are as certain as he that the charges are false and we applaud his protests. But as his indignation escalates, we start to wonder if he is not being a bit...well, unreasonable. He rants, he bellows, he threatens. He vilifies the Colonel and all his countrymen ( "Your stench permeates your armies!" ) . When the irate husband's own physician reports that Mrs. Kempler has venereal disease, he accuses the prison doctors of infecting her. Our suspicions grow when he later displays this same attitude toward his undeniably attractive consort, who reveals that her ordeal fell far short of the nightmare he had envisioned.
Is Kempler one of those husbands who imagines every man a rival for his wife's affections? Does his spouse deliberately invite peril so that he may reaffirm her virtue by rescuing her? Is the source of his uneasiness her Ottoman ancestors, her emancipated demeanor, or her high-powered job in International Banking? Do their overseas travels remind Kempler of his own alienation from the gentile society to which he aspires? Or is his self-esteem so diminished that he can only assure himself of his good intentions by projecting bad ones on everyone else?
The author is not telling, nor is director Jeff Ginsberg. The actors in this Trap Door Production...Bill Bannon as the blustering Kempler, Rom Barkhordar as the imperturbable Colonel, and Susy Ibrahim as the mysterious Mme. Kempler...likewise play close to the vest, forcing us to question our own pre-conceived notions of who these people are and what they represent.
The experience might be unsettling to playgoers complacent in their naive righteousness, but necessary if we are to avoid falling prey to the very xenophobia we would condemn in others. |
|
|
|
This article shared 2397 times since Wed May 16, 2001
|
ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE |
---|
|
| | THEATER 'Mamma Mia!' returns to Chicago with 'Daddyhunt' star Jim Newman 2024-04-24 - "Who's your daddy?" That's the key plot question driving the global hit Mamma Mia! The global smash jukebox musical famously features the song hits of Swedish pop group ABBA, and it returns for a three-week run ...
|
| | Local queer opera composer premiering her first show, a coming-of-age tale with LGBTQ+ themes 2024-04-23 - A Lake View woman is debuting her first opera as a composer, a coming-of-age story with LGBTQ+ themes. Gillian Rae Perry, a fellow with the Chicago Opera Theater's Vanguard program for emerging artists, composed The Weight ...
|
| | The importance of becoming Ernest: Out actor Christopher Sieber dishes about the Death Becomes Her musical 2024-04-20 - Out and proud actor Christopher Sieber is part of the team bringing Death Becomes Her to life as a stage musical in the Windy City this spring. Sieber plays Ernest Menville, who was originally portrayed by ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Celine Dion, 'The People's Joker,' Billy Porter, Patti LuPone, 'Strange Way' 2024-04-19 - I Am: Celine Dion will stream on Prime Video starting June 25, according to a press release. The film is described as follows: "Directed by Academy Award nominee Irene Taylor, I Am: Celine Dion gives us ...
|
| | Kokandy Productions now accepting submissions for Chicago Musical Theater Fest returning Aug. 8-11 2024-04-18 --From a press release - CHICAGO (April 18, 2024) — Kokandy Productions is pleased to open submissions for the 2024 Chicago Musical Theatre Festival, returning this summer following a four-year hiatus. Kokandy is thrilled to ...
|
| | THEATER Blue in the Right Way's 'Women Beware Women' offers feminist, trans take on a troubling Jacobean tragedy 2024-04-18 - "Problematic" is a great go-to adjective to describe Women Beware Women. This 1621 Jacobean tragedy is by English playwright Thomas Middleton, who is probably best remembered as a collaborator with William Shakespeare on their pessimistic tragedy ...
|
| | Hubbard Street Dance Chicago announces programs for May 17-19 season finale 2024-04-17 --From a press release - CHICAGO — Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) announced program selections for Spring Series: Of Joy, the final installment of Season 46, Abundance. The engagement will include four unique works, once ...
|
| | LGBTQ+ film fest Queer Expression to feature Alexandra Billings in 'Queen Tut' 2024-04-12 --From a press release - CHICAGO — Pride Film Fest celebrates its second decade with a new name—QUEER EXPRESSION—and has announced its slate of LGBTQ+-themed feature, mid-length and short films for in-person and virtual events in April and May. QUEER EXPRESSI ...
|
| | Open Space Arts's COCK offers a complex but compelling take on relationships 2024-04-08 By Brian Kirst - Premiering in 2009, Mike Bartlett's COCK was a comic revelation, exploring notions about fluidity and sexual labelling long before they became commonplace discussions. Granted, conversations about these issues will always ...
|
| | Jeff Awards launches submission period for Impact Awards 2024-04-06 - The Jeff Awards announced the opening period for applications submissions for its 2024 honors to help inspire early career artists of color in the Greater Chicagoland area. Two recipients will be selected for awards of $10,000 ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Outfest, Chita Rivera, figure skaters, letter, playwright dies 2024-04-05 - For more than four decades, Outfest has been telling LGBTQ+ stories through the thousands of films screened during its annual Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival—but that event may have a different look this year because ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Dionne Warwick, OUTshine, Ariana DeBose, 'Showgirls,' 'Harlem' 2024-03-29 Video below - Iconic singer Dionne Warwick was honored for her decades-long advocacy work for people living with HIV/AIDS at a star-studded amfAR fundraising gala in Palm Beach, per the Palm Beach Daily News. Warwick received the "Award of ...
|
| | WORLD Israel court, conversion therapy, death sentences, Georgia bill, fashion items 2024-03-29 - Israel's Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Population Authority must register female couples as mothers on the birth certificates of their children they have together, The Washington Blade reported. The decision was made following a petition ...
|
| | City Lit Executive Artistic Director Brian Pastor talks theater, comics, queerness 2024-03-26 - City Lit Theater has announced its programming for the 2024-25 seasonwhich will be the company's 44th. It will also be the first season to be programmed under the leadership of Brian Pastor (they/them), who will assume ...
|
| | The Jeff Awards announces the 50th anniversary awards for non-equity theater 2024-03-26 --From a press release - A complete list of recipients can also be found online in the Non-Equity and News and Events sections at www.jeffawards.org. (March 25, 2024 - Chicago) — Celebrating its 50th anniversary awarding recognition for Non-Equity theater, the ...
| |
|
|
|
|
| New Title IX rules protects LGBTQ+ students...to a point | | NATIONAL Ohio law blocked, Trevor Project, Rev. Troy Perry, ICE suit, Elon Musk | | SHOWBIZ Celine Dion, 'The People's Joker,' Billy Porter, Patti LuPone, 'Strange Way' | | LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Dialogue Project set to hold its second annual exhibition | | WORLD Nigeria arrest, Chilean murderer, trans ban, Olivier Awards, marriage items | |
|
|
|
|