THE LIZARD LOFT Seleh, right, played by Maseeh Ganjali, gets to know his newfound "friends" Steven (Tim Dyke) and Frances (Rolinda Emch) in "The Last Outpost."

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Relationships, not
politics, drive story

Playwright Nancy Moss offers a provocative look at the American occupation of post-Saddam Iraq with her new drama, "The Last Outpost," at the ARTS at Marks Garage.

"The Last Outpost," presented by the Lizard Loft at the ARTS at Marks Garage, 1159 Nuuanu Ave. Continues at 8 p.m. tomorrow through Saturday. Tickets: $10 ($7 students). Call 537-8047.

The new work hits much closer to home than her last one, "Anna," an examination of the human toll of Stalinism in Russia. Although many will walk into "The Last Outpost" expecting to see clearly defined heroes and villains, Moss' story is not a heavy-handed, anti-Bush morality play.

It all starts with Steven, an idealistic and naive American, who gets a crash course in the enigmatic realities of power politics when his tentative friendship with Seleh, a young Iraqi author, is exploited by an American intelligence-gathering agency.

Steven is in Iraq working for an American company that will be publishing textbooks for use in Iraqi schools. Seleh is happy to write whimsical stories for the books, even though he doesn't understand the Americans' insistence on including strong female characters.

What Steven doesn't know when they start working together is that Seleh's ayatollah is suspected of having connections with the Iraqi resistance, and that an American intelligence unit believes the ayatollah may be including subtle anti-American messages in his sermons.

And so, a cold and overbearing man named Des turns up in Steven's office one day and "asks" that he help this unidentified unit learn more about Seleh and his ayatollah.

DES DEFINES his work in straight patriotic terms. Destroying the Iraqi resistance will save the lives of American military personnel and their civilian counterparts. What kind of an American would refuse to ask an Iraqi a few innocent questions if the information gained might save the lives of other Americans?

Des is a "true believer" in the American dream, but also cynically aware that his clandestine activities in Iraq provide him with financial benefits and economic opportunities he wouldn't have as a civilian back in the states. Des woos Steven by alternating thinly veiled threats with small favors such as expediting Steven's membership in an exclusive Americans-only health club.

Super-patriot Des is an unapologetic anti-Arab racist, but Steven also considers himself superior to Iraqis. And, as it turns out, he and his secretary, Frances, have also come to Iraq more for the financial benefits and tax breaks they're receiving than for any desire to help the Iraqi people rebuild their nation.

Seleh is aware that Steven is pumping him for information, but the American book contract is paying him much more than he'd make driving a cab, so he puts up with it.

In his conversations with Steven and Frances, Seleh expresses the sentiments of everyday Iraqis who appreciate the Americans' removal of Saddam, but who are now keenly aware of their new status as citizens of an occupied nation as American soldiers freely search their homes and interrogate them at checkpoints.

What makes "The Last Outpost" more than simple political fare is Moss' decision to keep some of the action enigmatic. American soldiers and civilian personnel are killed when a helicopter is shot down, but the identity of the resistance group is never determined. Was the information Des wanted of any use? Were the Americans involved in a successful assassination of a suspect leader?

Maseeh Ganjali (Seleh) gives a convincing and fully realized portrayal of the young Iraqi. Ganjali is particularly effective in scenes in which Seleh cautiously tries to explain to his American "friends" how and why the United States is going wrong in its treatment of Iraq and its people.

Michael A. Proffitt makes a fine spokesman for the military/industrial complex as Des justifies the means used in establishing and enforcing American rule in Iraq. Tim Dyke does an effective job making Steven's efforts to juggle his idealism, self-interest and personal weaknesses believable. Rolinda Emch completes the cast as the American woman with a problematic past whose married boss warns her about not getting too close to Seleh while he makes a play for her himself.