BARRIERS: A Young, South Asian Woman Responds to 9/11 with Theatre.
Desipina & Co. Presents the West Coast Premiere in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
(August 1, 2003) Barriers, a stageplay by Rehana Mirza, makes its West Coast premiere at the Noh Theatre in San Francisco, from September 4th - 14th, 2003 in commemoration of and in response to the World Trade Center tragedy. The play then travels to Los Angeles for one weekend only at Stages Theater Center in Hollywood from September 25th - 28th, 2003.
Presented in San Francisco as a co-production by Asian American Theater Company and Desipina & Co., this pan-Asian, Muslim family drama is unique in its South Asian perspective of the backlash that had escalated post 9/11. Focusing on the fact that many South Asian Americans were faced with the dilemma of having to deal with both the impact of the disaster as well as with the suspicion and racism of the surrounding communities, the play unfolds in a touching fashion, with a gentle hand at comedy.
Ravi Kapoor, renowned for his acting appearances on Crossing Jordan and Gideon's Crossing, directs. Previous directing engagements include Oh Sweet Sita, (Kapoor's London and Toronto performed play in which Gurinder Chadha first took note of actor Parminder Nagra for Bend it Like Beckham), as well as more recently, a collaborative piece House for the Artwallah festival in Los Angeles.
Four months after the loss of their son at the World Trade Center, Barriers opens with the homecoming of the Abbas's only daughter, Sunima (played by Meera Simhan, most recently seen on stage at East/West Players in "Queen of the Remote Control,") to announce her pending engagement. The play quickly unravels from that point, as the mixed Asian family is forced to confront past betrayals, losses and the "barriers" that stand between each of them as well as the outside world.
Cast members such as Wajid, Diana Tanaka, Sunkrish Bala, and Rodney Jao take the play to new levels following the New York City premiere of the play, while Tyler Pierce, who originated the role of Roger in NY has been cast for the West Coast productions as well. The play premiered in 2002 in NYC, directed by Ashok Sinha, at the HERE Arts Center and went on to be featured in The New York Times, Newsday, NYtheatre.com, and TheatreMania.
"'Barriers' uncovers the silent story of the Muslim families who lost loved ones in the World Trade Center attacks. However, these stories were often overlooked as many Muslim families witnessed their 'missing' fliers marred with atrocious vandalism. Asian American Theater Company found Rehana Mirza's script poignantly opened up this untold story and explored the human experiences behind this tragedy," says Sean Lim, Managing Artistic Director of the Asian American Theater Company.
The author of the work, Rehana Mirza, has received her BFA from NYU's Dramatic Writing Program and has written, directed and produced a large number of plays and screenplays. Of this current project, she states, "I feel that it is important to bring together different communities through a universal storyline. With Barriers, I wanted to tell a compelling story as well as to counteract slanted media depictions by showing South Asians and Muslims in a humanistic light."
|
