“Back of the Throat,” written by Yussef El Guindi, produced by Jackie Williams and directed by Nicholas Bashour, is currently playing at Silver Spring Stage. It was first produced at the Furious Theater Company in Pasadena, California on June 24, 2006.

“Back of the Throat” is set in the time frame shortly after 9/11. Khaled (Ramtin Vaziri) – back of the throat refers to the pronunciation of the first two letters of his name in Arabic – is a young writer who lives in his own apartment in a city somewhere in the United States. The play opens with a nervous Khaled and two men we quickly round up are from the government, or at least that Khaled believes they are from the government. The two men, Barlett (Drew Cannady) and Carl (Justin Bigelow), interrogate Khaled and go over his personal affairs. In a very Kafkaesque plot, Khaled learns that he is being investigated for something elusive, but the Arab-American citizen never knows exactly what it is. Khaled’s constitutional rights are continually violated. It’s not until the second half of the play that he’s told what the investigation is apparently about, but it seems that Barlett and Carl have already been his judge and jury.

“Back of the Throat” is a reminder that freedom and our own personal security are so fragile.

There are a lot of ambiguities in the plot. Does Khaled know Asfoor (Hamza Elnaggar), an Arab identified by both G-men as a 9/11 terrorist? When he is accused, in a series of flashbacks, of being a conspirator with Asfoor, it is unclear whether the two Arab men actually met or whether their encounters are pure conjecture by the witnesses and the two interrogators. When one of the witnesses turns out to be a former girlfriend, it’s still left in doubt as to her interpretations of Khaled’s whereabouts. Even at the end, when Asfoor appears to Khaled in a dreamlike scene, one remains perplexed.

The point of the play is that we judge people, especially minorities, by our own biases. It doesn’t matter if that persona non grata is Muslim, African American, Latino, Asian or, as in recent weeks, Russian. He also points out that none of us could be judged fairly if someone sought to prove us guilty of unaccepted ideas or actions, especially if they came to our house and looked through what we read. and studied or examined our sexual inclinations. How would the comments of our friends, families and neighbors about us be perceived and distorted? If you’ve ever been unfairly accused of anything, you can sympathize with Khaled.

As the protagonist gets more scared, we get angrier at his treatment. We begin to believe that no matter what he has done, his treatment is unfair and even brutal. Even when there are doubts about his innocence, we do not cease to feel sympathy for him.

Vaziri does a magnificent job of reflecting the different stages of Khaled’s rollercoaster of emotions which range from being slightly nervous, worried, extremely worried, brave, very fearful and finally, mentally and physically damaged. As his being is both physically and mentally degraded, one could imagine Khaled feeling violated, like a rape victim, and Vaziri artfully conveys this to the audience.

Cannady and Bigelow as two G-men (or are they?) also do a great job expressing their personalities to the audience. Bartlett is a bit of a prude when it comes to sex and violence, but sees immigrants as second-class citizens. Carl is more brutal, more devious and more indiscriminately sadistic. The two actors manage to keep their characters to become caricatures which increases their scary character.

Elnaggar also manages to keep his character Asfoor ambiguous throughout his stage appearances. Is he a terrorist, does he frequent strip clubs, or does he even know Khaled are questions that are deliberately left unanswered.

The three female witnesses – Shelly the librarian (Lena Winter), Beth, Khaled’s ex-girlfriend (Briana Cortesiano) and Jean, the stripper (Caroline Adams) – are all beautifully portrayed and leave audiences with memorable images. . The Adams stripper is very sexy and ruthless, defiant, rude and full of prejudice. She’s not the stripper with the heart of gold. Cortesiano is very believable as a scorned girlfriend and a frightened citizen. Beth reminds us that we were all scared back then. Winter manages to make us wonder why this librarian is so willing to involve the two men.

Bashour’s direction stays true to the playwright’s intent. He expertly executes the brutality we see on stage with the help of fight choreographer, Bill Dunbar; Battle Captain, Winter; and Intimacy Coordinator, Helen Aberger,

The lighting designed by Don Slater, especially in the flashbacks and the final scene, helps to create a sense of the unreal and to maintain the ambiguity so essential to the playwright’s vision. Sound designer, Matthew Datcher, also helps set the mood with background music.

Jeffery Asjes Set Design was visually interesting. I really enjoy how the closet is used in flashbacks. There is an issue with the desktop placement on the unusual SSS scene. There are seats that have been blocked due to issues with sight lines due to this office where a lot of the action is happening.

“Back of the Throat” will bring gasps and even a few tears as we watch how our government will allow even our own citizens to be persecuted because of fear. There are a few laughs, but it’s intense drama. “Back of the Throat” is a reminder that freedom and our own personal security are so fragile.

Duration: 1h20 without intermission.

Notice: This piece deals with racism, racial profiling and terrorism and includes simulations of physical violence and sexual intimacy.

“Back of the Throat” runs through April 2, 2022 on weekends at Silver Spring Stage, 10145 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, Maryland 20901. For more information and tickets, go to this link.

Safety Protocols: Silver Spring Stage requires that guests and volunteers, including performers and staff, present photo identification and show proof of vaccinations – a physical or digital copy of a vaccination card – when entering the theatre. They also continue to require masks for all members of the public.