Review: Another Country Heard From: Scandinavian Stage Debuts With I CALL MY BROTHERS

I Call My Brothers

Written by Jonas Hassen Khemiri, Translation by Rachel Willson-Broyles, Poster Design by Anya Vedmid, Directed by Guy Ben-Aharon

Featuring: Ramona Lisa Alexander, Greg Maraio, Nael Nacer, Gigi Watson

Presented by Scandinavian Stage at Scandinavian Cultural Center, 206 Waltham Street, West Newton, MA; Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 7:30 pm

Producing Artistic Director and Founder of Israeli Stage, Guy Ben-Aharon helmed a staged reading of Swedish-Tunisian playwright/author Jonas Hassen Khemiri's I Call My Brothers last night in Nordic Hall at the Scandinavian Cultural Center in West Newton. The first-ever theatrical performance at SCC was in partnership with the Center for Arabic Culture and featured a quartet of Boston actors: Ramona Lisa Alexander, Greg Maraio, Nael Nacer, and Gigi Watson. The play toured Sweden with Riksteatern in 2013, and premiered in New York City by The Play Company in January, 2013.

As has been his trademark since the 2010 launch of Israeli Stage, Emerson College alumnus Ben-Aharon attracts quality performers who bring characters to life and engage the audience without the benefit of sets, lights, or costumes. Inspired by the 2010 terrorist bombing in central Stockholm, I Call My Brothers tells the story of a Muslim Swede in the twenty-four hours following the explosion of a car bomb in Stockholm. Amor wanders the city, doing his best to blend in and not attract attention, but his paranoia is crippling, gradually increasing until it blurs the line between fantasy and reality. Nacer is riveting in his portrayal of Amor's demoralizing day, Maraio captures the nuances of his friend Shavi, Alexander exudes warmth and sagacity as Amor's late grandmother, and Watson finds the right balance as an old flame who must draw boundaries for Amor.

Considered one of the most important writers of his generation in Sweden, the 37-year old Khemiri deftly captures the mélange of post-traumatic emotions and builds the tension to a fever pitch in this 90-minute narrative. Beneath the overt dramatic conflict experienced and expressed by the protagonist lies a troubling subtext. How are the victims of terrorist attacks complicit in creating the conditions that become a breeding ground for further attacks? In the aftermath of an event, the suspicions aimed at anyone who looks like the perpetrators fosters an atmosphere of unfairness and retaliation that may drive others to succumb to the pressure, to become a member of the enemy we are trying to defeat. Ben-Aharon moderated a vibrant post-show discussion that left no doubt about the level of audience engagement with I Call My Brothers. It bodes well for future presentations by Scandinavian Stage and adds another country heard from to the director's portfolio.

Photo credit: Justin Saglio (Ramona Lisa Alexander, Nael Nacer, Greg Maraio, Gigi Watson)