UHM
Alan Shepard (Boxler) pulls Christopher Cappelletti (Craver) off of Andrew Valentine (Remzi) in a scene from "In the Heart of America."
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Wide net of war crimes fuels play
AMERICAN and Zionist war crimes provide the fuel for just but selective outrage in student director Peter Rousseau's hard-hitting production, "In the Heart of America."
The play, from 1994, is playwright Naomi Walleye's take on events before and during America's first war with Iraq. Opponents of the current war will find the issues she raises equally relevant today. Ruocco's skillful deployment of his talented cast -- and the ways he reinforces their work with effective use of set design, props and audiovisual effects -- brings the complicated, albeit predictable, story to life.
"In the Heart of America"
...continues at 8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday at Ernst Lab Theatre, University of Hawaii-Manoa. Tickets are $12, with discounts for faculty, seniors, military and students. Call 956-7655 or visit www.etickethawaii.com.
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The story begins with Fairouz, a Palestinian-American woman who is investigating the death of her brother, Remzi, shortly after American forces killed thousands of Iraqi soldiers as the Iraqis were fleeing Kuwait. Fairouz believes her brother was involved in a sexual relationship with an American soldier, Craver. Her quest for information takes her to Craver's motel room.
Craver is persuaded to talk about his experiences, and the time frame quickly becomes flexible as Fairouz, Craver and other characters recall events in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Vietnam and the Palestinian territories.
Fairouz is confronted by a mysterious Vietnamese woman. Craver and Remzi are taunted and trained in Saudi Arabia by a mentally unstable officer who seems to think that he's fighting in Vietnam, Grenada or Panama rather than the Persian Gulf.
While playwright Wallace attacks "the 'American way' of war," various subplots address America's support of Israel and issues of prejudice -- against gays in the military, Arabs in America, the handicapped.
Fairouz and Remzi also debate whether they should think of themselves first as Palestinians or as Americans. We learn that their parents were survivors of the al-Dawayima Massacre of 1948, where Arab historians say members of two Jewish militant groups killed several hundred Palestinian civilians (mainstream Israeli historians deny these accounts). We also learn that the mysterious officer, Boxler, killed the Vietnamese woman, Lue Ming, at My Lai in 1968.
Fairouz and Remzi recall childhood experiences as Palestinian Americans. A friendship develops between Remzi and Craver as they prepare for the military operation that will drive the Iraqis out of Kuwait. Boxler and Lue Ming recall My Lai.
Yet another subplot looks at the question of torturing prisoners to get time-sensitive information. Do you let your people die because the prisoner won't talk, or get the information by any means necessary?
Boxler notes that atrocities "happen all the time" in wars. The cast of characters could easily include victims of Soviet war crimes in Germany during and after World War II, Chinese war crimes in Tibet, Japanese war crimes in China, Pakistani war crimes in Bangladesh, Serb war crimes in Bosnia and Kosovo, and Iraqi war crimes in Kurdistan and Kuwait.
Libette Garcia (Fairouz) and Christopher Cappelletti (Craver) get the long two-act play off to a strong start and give vivid performances throughout; many in the audience last Friday seemed equally impressed by Cappelletti's ability to do push-ups on his knuckles. Alan Shepard (Boxler) ratchets up the energy level as the ruthless yet tormented war criminal whose sentence was cut short so he could return to active duty.
Polly Zi Hong M Nakamura (Lue Ming) is a perfect fit in the role of the Vietnamese victim of My Lai. Andrew K Valentine (Remzi) is believable and sympathetic as the conflicted Palestinian-American soldier.
Justin DeLand (scenic design) emphasizes the surrealism of the story with a stark and expansive set paved with wartime newspaper headlines. Daphne Velasquez (lighting) and Daniel Sakimura (sound) enhance the actors' work with imaginative lighting and audio effects.