Town & Village On Stage

By her words and actions Sahar, the principal character in Sharbari Ahmed's engrossing play, "Raisins Not Virgins," emphasizes the difference between an American who happens to be a Muslim and a devoted Muslim who happens to be an American.

Sahar, who is in her late twenties, is successful and a quintessential, secular New Yorker. She grew up with an aversion to the Muslim faith of her parents. As a child, she abhorred the mandatory weekly trip to the mosque to hear the Imam preach beliefs that seemed irrelevant if not hostile. Nevertheless, when her old-world mother, Amma, played by Anna Itty, who is absolutely sensational in the role, arranges a meeting with Rizwan (Nelson Lugo), a prospective Muslim husband, she doesn't protest too much. Of course, it helps that Rizwan is a witty charmer. "Raisins Not Virgins" is at the WorkShop Theater Company, 312 West 36th Street through October 15 (ed. Note: now October 22).

"Raisins Not Virgins," skillfully directed by Thomas Cote, is an ambitious, complex, superbly crafted play that makes excellent use of modern dramatic techniques. The on-stage action takes place against a background of world-shaking events: among them, the Middle East conflict and the 9/11 World Trade Center terrorist attacks. Most of these far-off actions and even local happenings are projected on a background screen via video (by David Schulder).

Often, Ms. Ahmed has her characters face the audience and talk, sometimes to the audience, but often to another character. This is most effective in the innocent, old-worldly advice that Amma gives to her modern daughter. Somehow, playwright Ahmed and director Cote are able to convey without any ambiguity exactly what is going on, who is talking to whom.

Video supplies the crucial moment in the play. The pictures of the twelve-year-old Arab boy who was killed by Israeli bullets while being sheltered by his father leads to a reshaping of Sahar's attitudes. The event also inspires Rizwan to stay in the Middle East where he had gone to rescue his religious, somewhat flaky brother-in-law. But real life is not simple and Ahmed, despite a humorous, somewhat cynical view of events, is dramatically reflecting real life. Events take turns for which neither Sahar nor Rizwan are prepared.

Generally, the acting in "Raisins Not Virgins" is excellent. As mentioned, Anna Itty, as the mother who has transferred in wonderment from Bangladesh to New York, is terrific. She can coax laughter out of an inflection or a pause.

Marc Geller, who plays the eccentric Jewish PhD photographer who fills the void in Sahar's life after Rizwan's commitment to the Middle East, is delightfully nerdy. It is even believable when Amma approves of him as a mate for her daughter...

...Incidentally, the title, "Raisins Not Virgins," refers to a Koranic verse that refers to the reward Muslim martyrs can expect. Recent interpretations have found that the Arabic word more accurately translates into raisin, specifically raisins of "startling white clarity."