A Distinct Society
Writers Theatre's A Distinct Society, written and directed by Canadian-born playwright Kareem Fahmy, is based on actual events where a Muslim Ban issued by Trump limited Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen individuals from visiting the U.S. However, perches the border of the U.S. and Canada, there was a library on the boundaries of the Derby Line, Vermont, and Stanstead, Quebec, where Middle Eastern families could visit and reconnect through word-of-mouth and social media.
Featuring a cast of five, A Distinct Society masterfully shares how this quiet library facilitated the relationship of Peyman, an Iranian descent has come to the library to meet his daughter, Shirin. He meets the head librarian, Manon, and a disgruntled local teenager named Decian, and he shares with them his excitement of seeing the daughter he has been separated from due to the ban. His elation is tempered when U.S. border patrol officer Bruce enters the library. Bruce, a Detriot native, has been transferred for insubordination, and he comes to the library because he fancies Manon. But when Bruce warns Peyman of new regulations to ban Muslims, Peyman fears he will never see his daughter. Things get impassioned when Bruce advises Peyman and Manon that the government has intensified the border to limit Muslims from crossing and connecting with families at the library. However, when Manon chooses to defy the orders, Bruce must decide to obey the law or his love for Manon.
Fahmy's A Distinct Society is a candid, provocative look into how this ban tragically affected millions of Muslims, leaving them helpless and afraid. The cast features Amir Abdullah (Bruce), Ron Barkhordar (Peyman), Cole Keriazakos (Declan), and making her Writers Theatre debut, Aila Ayilam Peck as Shirin. And one of my favorite theatrical actors, Kate Fry, plays Manon. Fry, who's recently performed in Wife of A Salesman at Writers, is a master performer. Keriazakos faultlessly played the single-parent teenager who practically lived in the library to escape the abuse of Canadian-french-born kids who treated his multiple ethnicities as a negative stain.
The Trump ban, which stopped individuals within the United States from reentering the country if they left and prohibited others from entering the U.S., affected nearly 218 million Muslims. The Haskell Free Library and Opera House were built over the borders of Quebec and Vermont, allowing banned families to meet at a line separating each country— this is the backdrop of Fahmy's play that highlights one family's desperate need to unite. He also incorporated his childhood as a teenager in Canada, and the Quebec sovereignty movement, whose objective, which was narrowly defeated, was to achieve the independence of Quebec from Canada. Fahmy superbly uses this division throughout his play, highlighting the division between daughter and father, son and parents, and love vs. obligation.
“You’re not quite in the U.S., and not quite in Canada. Somewhere in between, I guess. ”
The play deals with racism, white nationalism, stereotypes, frogs (dumb Frenchman), xenophobia, and the history and contentious issues between Quebec and the rest of English Canada. A Distinct Society's awe-inspiring production opens us up to humanity's most extensive library, the thoughtfulness of the mind. And the lack thereof.
4 Stars ****
Writers Theatre
A Distinct Society
Written and Directed by Kareem Fahmy
June 22 - July 23, 2023
