By Joe Szek
The Canadian Friends of Sabeel present a remount of an award-winning play ‘Tales of a City by the Sea’ by playwright Samah Sabawi. According to its website, “Members seek to raise Canadian awareness of the struggle of Palestinian Christians living under oppression. The members do this primarily through education and solidarity projects in Canada.”
I do recall from the news the atrocities that occurred on the Gaza strip. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the horrors that were faced by individuals living there.
Ms. Sabawi’s play (woven from real experiences of people) is the story of Jomana (Saja Kilani) and Rami (Anas Hasan) who meet and fall in love on the besieged Gaza strip and the atrocities which occur there. Jomana is a Palestinian woman who writes poetry on the beach. Her intended, Rami, is an American born Palestinian doctor and activist who has just arrived on one of the first free Gaza boats in 2008. Both Jomana and Rami are met with struggling challenges as their relationship grows. Ultimately, a decision must be made – Rami will have to choose either to stay with Jomana in Palestine or return to his comfortable life in Texas. This decision is a tough one for Rami. If he selects to stay in Palestine, he leaves his family and career behind for a life ravaged by war. To leave Palestine means to lose Jomana and to ignore the atrocities of the Palestinians.
Obviously not a comedy by any means. Yet the script does manage to find some humour amid the tragedies. At times, the dialogue is poetic in nature. The story reflects the importance of belief in sustaining one’s identity, heritage and culture in a world of change. I believe this is of tremendous importance in our rapidly ever-changing world of the twenty first century.
Yes, the plot sounds a bit like ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ for the references to tradition, but I was interested to see where the story would take me.
Kayla Chaterji’s two level Set Design designated four playing spaces and fitted the Mainstage of Passe Muraille nicely. Actors appeared periodically on the second level above the stage. Stage left was the living room of the Texas home of Rami and his mother. Centre stage was a gigantic Fig Tree (according to the Director’s Note) with pillows under the tree. The roots of the Fig tree are defiant and resourceful. Stage right was Jomana’s home with her father Abu Ahmad (Basel Daoud).
Matt Lalonde’s Sound Design was quite effective especially in that moment when the bombing begins whereby Jomana and her father must leave immediately.
With these four distinct spaces, lighting each area should not pose any problems. But Lidia Foote’s lighting design was not focused. There were many shadows cast on both sides of the stage. Even with my perch from the front row, there were times where Rami’s mother was in shadow and I had difficulty seeing her face clearly. There were times when lighting sequences were a bit slow and the pace came to a grinding halt briefly. Hopefully, for remaining performances, this will be rectified immediately.
I did like the solo song at the top of the show and the choral singing at the end. I had no idea, however, what was being sung. There were some audience members around me who mouthed the words as the performers sang. It might have been a good idea to let us know in the programme what these songs signified.
This production of ‘Tales’ at Theatre Passe Muraille is a non-professional/community-based group of actors. Given its subject material, it’s a tough one to stage because there is a great deal of intensity and tension that is needed to sustain interest in the story.
Unfortunately, there’s a continual imbalance in Director Rahaf Fasheh’s vision which didn’t make the story as powerful and realistic for me as it could have been.
For one, there are a few moments where Ms Kilani and Mr. Hasan don’t capture the horrific moment of intensity. Both occur in their individual monologues they deliver to the audience. Monologues are challenges in themselves as an actor must first understand what is being said before he or she decides how to deliver it. Instead, all I heard was a great deal of shouting and raising voice when necessary for emphasis with no breath control. Shouting and yelling don’t ring true and believable for me. At one point during their monologues again, I could see Ms. Kilani and Mr. Hasan on the verge of tears. The tears came but they seem to get over it quickly. It usually takes a few minutes for someone to calm down if he or she is crying. If that technique is going to be used, it is the actor (under the director’s vision) who must decide how to incorporate this emotive technique on stage.
The supporting characters do have the odd moment of natural believability, but they also fell into the same trap as Ms. Kilani and Mr. Hasan. Understanding what is being said first and foremost is tremendously important. An actor doesn’t have to shout or yell all the time to gain attention. Let the story and the dialogue do that work.
FINAL COMMENTS: In her Director’s Note, Ms. Fasheh writes that she aims “to present truth, evoke change and inspire activism.” This play is an extremely important one that needs to be shared so we can discuss these issues. And again, hopefully for the remaining performances, the actors will continue to review their scripts and to think about what they are saying first.
There are some talkback sessions after certain performances. There wasn’t one on the night I attended, but I strongly encourage future audiences to stay for them if they can. I always learn more about the play with these question and answer sessions.
‘Tales of a City by the Sea’ runs to December 15 at Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Avenue, Toronto. For further information, visit the website.