Alec Willows and Sarah May Redmond. photo: Tim Matheson
The Little Mountain Theatre and Working Spark Theatre present Ghosts in Baghdad from March 27 – April 6, 2014.
Ghosts in Baghdad is an original, award-winning production, from local playwright Michelle Deines (with cultural consultants Aseel Abbas and Omar Khudhr), about the struggle between culture and conflict. “I was immediately struck by the poignancy of the story—it reminded me a little bit of Waiting for Godot—characters caught in a situation in which discourse is halted and purpose is elusive,” says Deines.
Ghosts in Baghdad is a beautifully written story that takes place in and around a museum in Baghdad in the early 2000s, and outlines the struggle of the men and women who desperately try to preserve the treasures within during a time of war. When the museum, which holds some of the most historically relevant pieces, is bombed and subsequently looted, their mission is to find and restore the pieces to their original places.
Deines weaves an intricate tale of intrigue and suspense, and blends it with a heart-breaking sense of humanity and desperation.
Director John Murphy (Bard on the Beach) does a stellar job at directing his A-list cast, pulling moving performances that take you away from the stage and into the heart of Baghdad.
Alec Willows (Khalil Najim), Sarah May Redmond (Malika al-Nadi), Joshua Drebit (Hamza al-Qasim), and Gili Roskies (Noor), all shine in their own right and are perfectly cast in roles that are difficult, and yet they succeed, in nailing with a believability in which you can loose yourself.
The intermittent set changes are both clever and effective, with the actor first on stage in the follow scene, remaining on stage after moving the final piece of furniture from the previous scene. It resisted the often-jarring break in story flow that often accompanies blackouts or set changes with visual pauses between action, and instead added smoothness to the transitions that held you fast.
The ideas for set design and projection design are clever, however, the venue itself is not quite big enough to properly showcase the visuals. That said, they did a great job with what they had.
For tickets and more information, click Ghosts in Baghdad.
Ghosts in Baghdad is a beautifully written story that takes place in and around a museum in Baghdad in the early 2000s, and outlines the struggle of the men and women who desperately try to preserve the treasures within during a time of war. When the museum, which holds some of the most historically relevant pieces, is bombed and subsequently looted, their mission is to find and restore the pieces to their original places.
Deines weaves an intricate tale of intrigue and suspense, and blends it with a heart-breaking sense of humanity and desperation.
Director John Murphy (Bard on the Beach) does a stellar job at directing his A-list cast, pulling moving performances that take you away from the stage and into the heart of Baghdad.
Alec Willows (Khalil Najim), Sarah May Redmond (Malika al-Nadi), Joshua Drebit (Hamza al-Qasim), and Gili Roskies (Noor), all shine in their own right and are perfectly cast in roles that are difficult, and yet they succeed, in nailing with a believability in which you can loose yourself.
The intermittent set changes are both clever and effective, with the actor first on stage in the follow scene, remaining on stage after moving the final piece of furniture from the previous scene. It resisted the often-jarring break in story flow that often accompanies blackouts or set changes with visual pauses between action, and instead added smoothness to the transitions that held you fast.
The ideas for set design and projection design are clever, however, the venue itself is not quite big enough to properly showcase the visuals. That said, they did a great job with what they had.
For tickets and more information, click Ghosts in Baghdad.
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