By Joe Straw
I’m a little confused by this title and slightly
betrayed. (Only slightly.) The press notes indicates it’s “written by
George Packer” but the program says something slightly different, “Story: George Packer”.
Whitmore Eclectic presents Betrayed – Story: George Packer, directed by Andrew Verderame, at the Lyric Theatre in
Hollywood through November 13, 2011 is a wonderful production with fantastic
performances.
It is about a subject matter that, to this day, I do not
understand: The invasion of Iraq, the loss
of American and Iraqi lives, and the idea that the American taxpayers are and
have been footing this bill. (Let’s see
if my political leanings can get me into trouble.)
This show is brutally honest with graphic videos and sound
design, by Aliah Whitmore, and is not for the squeamish. As James Whitmore, Jr.
introduces the show he says that if you’re offended, “Don’t look.”
Self-censorship is protected under the First Amendment.
Adnan (Pasha Bocarie) is a man who doesn’t fit in. His day-to-day
existence was selling cigarettes on Mutanabi Street in old Baghdad and it was a
life he was reluctant to live. With the
overthrow of Saddam Hussein he has thoughts of redirecting the focus of his
life without morbid thoughts of thanatopsis.
Adnan has a rendezvous with his friend Laith (Peter Sabri)
in a hotel. It has taken both of them
days to get there.
Sadly, Laith is living on the edge. He has been getting threatening calls and
wants to leave the country. But an
unsuccessful attempt to cross the border results in his fake passport being
confiscated. His objective is to reach
Bill Prescott (Andrew Patton), a state Department official, and an old friend
from their Green Zone days, and have him arrange his way out. He can’t do this without the help from his
friend, Adnan.
Thus begins a series of flashback where Adnan and Laith
reminiscence about how they got to this point in their lives. Starting with how they came to work for the
State Department.
With Laith it is interpreting for a soldier Jason (Robert
Fabiani) and his unit. But Adnan goes
directly to the Green Zone to apply for a job.
As he is there he runs into Intisar (Aliah Whitmore) who is also
applying for a position.
After Adnan is accepted, he is taken to a Regional Security
Officer (Dustin Seavey) who interrogates him using the modern up-to-date, inadmissible-in-court,
lie detector.
In the meantime Prescott accepts Intisar. Adnan goes back to have lunch with Laith and
tells him he has secured Laith an interview.
All three are issued yellow badges and are sworn in by the
RSO who instructs them on the finer points of the Green Zone and the Red Zone.
“What is the Red Zone?” – Intisar
“The Red Zone…it’s what’s outside the Green Zone.” – RSO
“You mean – Iraq?” – Intisar
“Congratulations and welcome to the American mission in Baghdad.” – RSO
The three become working friends and discuss their dreams of
the future in five years but things start going awry. Intisar makes a big mistake by agreeing to
appear on non-stop TV news feeds to Iraq and Washington.
The Iraqis are also becoming suspicious of this trio. Our three heroes approach Prescott to get
green badges because they feel their lives are in danger waiting in the streets
to get into the compound. The SRO denies their request for and when this
happens Intisar is gun down in the streets of Baghdad.
Next time, Adnan and Laith go directly to the Ambassador
(Craig Braun) to get green badges because they feel their lives are in danger.
Again, the SRO denies their request.
Prescott is so fed up he asks Adnan and Laith to take him to
a restaurant, somewhere in Baghdad. They
do so and while they are there he asks Laith to find an Iraqi leaders to open a
dialogue.
“What we hear is they refuse to talk to the occupiers.” – Prescott
“Some of them want to. There are
differences within them. But they need a
channel.” – Laith
“… O.K. Open up a back channel and we’ll see what happens.” –
Prescott
Laith does so and this mistake gets him into a lot of
trouble.
This story highlights the differences between men and women, Americans and Iraqis, and finally Shia and Sunni with seemingly no resolution on the conflicts either now or in the near future. Setting all this aside this is a very fine cast and exceptional performances all
around.
Pasha Bocarie as
Adnan is excellent. There is a very nice truth to his craft. It is understated and not overly emotional as
the character seeks a path that is different than his counterpart. Adnan is a man who wants to continue to live
in Iraq. He has no thoughts of leaving,
and he will do what is necessary to survive.
His performance was marvelous.
Peter Sabri as
Laith was also excellent. He is an actor
who is always in the moment and feels his emotion moments to his core. As
Laith, he follows a path that leads him to make a lot of mistakes. His overriding trust in his fellow human
being, be they American or Iraqi, gets him into a lot of trouble. Which is why he is fighting for his life. Still, Sabri needs to recognize his mistakes
and make more of the moments that give creation to his downward spiral. This will only add to an already very
terrific performance.
Andrew Patton as
Prescott was marvelous. Last seen in
Moby Dick Rehearsed this role was a chameleon-like transformation in character.
And as the character, he is a man out of
place, out of his time and element. Try as he might he cannot overcome that
which is his inept government. But,
guilty by association, this must included his own ineptitude caused by his own
actions of which he is unaware. First, he
throws Intisar in front of a camera feed that goes out to who knows where,
publicly displaying her image. Secondly,
he sends Laith out to try to find the enemy unaware of havoc he is creating. Although he is unmindful of all of the
problems he has caused, in the end, he wants to make good and it is this force
of rightness that sends him out frantically trying to save his friends. This was a job well done.
Aliah Whitmore as
Intisar delivers an exceptional performance complete with Iraqi accent. As the character she fights against the inequality
of women in her country. This gets her
into a lot of trouble, which she is not able to overcome. Still she fights for what is right even if it
means paying the ultimate price.
Dustin Seavey
plays the Regional Security Officer who does his job efficiently, possibly a
little too efficiently. It’s a nice job
for a humorless role. This trick to the
role (and yes, there are tricks) is to find the moment that is going to give
the character the human touch rather than just seeing “the machine” that is his
job. Still, this was a very good
performance.
Craig Braun as
the Ambassador (October 13-14) was slightly nervous on this particular
night. It was a nice performance that
needed the “thing” that makes him the Ambassador. Tim
Dezarn was not playing the Ambassador the night I was there.
Robert Fabiani as
the Soldier Jason did a nice job as a person who is overwhelmed with his
job. His nerves are frayed the longer he
stays in Iraq. He has come to the point
where he does not trust anyone, even friends.
And will just as soon rifle butt you in the head if you look at him the
wrong way. This is a solid performance
by a wonderful actor.
Haaz Sleiman did
an admirable job as the Dialect Coach and was the Dishdasha Man and Correspondent
number one.
Max Siam was the
Cursing Man and Eggplant Face (Abu Abbas).
Andrew Verderame,
the director, has done a marvelous job with this show. His actors were
exceptional and the direction was exceptional and overall very enjoyable. While
most plays tell a story using a narrative and the narrative is a specific period
of time, George Packard’s play/story
focuses on the use of flashback. Not my
favorite way of telling a story in most mediums but not impossible to pull off
if the life and death moments out of
the hotel room pull us in to the dramatic moments into the hotel room.
Maybe it was opening weekend, or something else, but the
action seemed to start and stop the moment we go back into the hotel. Also, we as an audience need to consider what
is behind the hotel room door and should not forget that at any single moment someone
may come in and take the characters away, for good. Focus on a time element with life or death as
the dramatic conclusion. We should never
forget that someone is coming for them and it is only a question of when.
Just as an aside, the program to the play is an outstanding
comic book like program. No credit is
given to the person, or persons responsible for this wonderful program. It says a lot about the commitment Whitmore
Eclectic pays to the actors, director and the rest of the staff.
Go! This is a very
good show about a powerful subject matter. And take a Marine with you, he or she may have
something more to say.
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