Middle East Story - Islamic Qatari Mariam - Essay Example

Personal Reaction: West Side Story is a very powerful and poignant play in itself. However, by modernizing it and changing the location, I have attempted to show another version of the still existing problems and conflicts. I have called my modernized version of West Side Story, the Middle East Story, since it takes place in Middle East. There is a lot of misunderstanding which then leads to hatred and hostility. Racial and class issue existed in West Side Story as it does in Middle East Story; more or less keeping that hatred and conflict in similar context. A third major difference is added to this story that intensifies the conflict; religious difference. Mariam is Muslim and Tony is Christian. I personally believe this change greatly changes the story and makes it even more impossible for Mariam and Tony to be together. Also, it is important to note that the story does take place in 2006. America and the Muslim world is at a point where any communication leads to inevitable misunderstanding and yet, Tony, an American Christian soldier falls in love with the Islamic Qatari Mariam. I really like my modernized version of the play. I feel that since there is so much hostility between the Americans and the Muslims, showing a play where both sides want to give up what they stand for and just be devoted to each other shows that love prevails over all. Throwing dirt on others does not make us a better person; and violence is definitely not the answer to all questions. Middle East Story shows that life is short, and questions, is it wise to spend a short life hating and killing those who disagree with our viewpoint In my modernized version, Tony does die. I felt it was important for Tony to die, because even after he dies, Mariam shows her affection for him. She covers his face with her head covering, her identity of being a Muslim. I felt this was a very powerful scene in the play. Social Background This play is based on the musical, West Side Story, and I have attempted to modernize it by making a few changes. The play takes place in the year 2006, in Doha, Qatar. Since it is based in the Middle East, I have named the play, the Middle East Story. The play has a lot of similarities with West Wide Story except for one major difference between Tony and Mariam which intensifies the conflict presented in the play. Mariam is the sister of Qatar's Islamic groups' leader, Ibrahim. Ibrahim wants Qatar to be independent of the American soldiers because he fears the Americans would Westernize the Qataris and cause trouble. From the start it is established that Mariam's family is against the American soldiers. Tony, the guy with whom Mariam meets and falls in love, is an American soldier. This racial difference is very difficult to deal with. The American soldiers pity the Qataris whom the Americans believe are living a backwards life. The American soldiers believe women should have more freedom and the country overall should be more open-minded. The lack of understanding between both races leads to hatred; the American soldiers stationed in Qatar and the members of the Islamic groups have a hard time tolerating each other. A social class difference also exists between Mariam and Tony. Mariam comes from a very wealthy family. Her family owns a big house and she enjoys a comfortable lifestyle. Tony, on the other hand, comes from a middle class family. He lives in an apartment and does not enjoy a luxurious lifestyle. According to Qatar standards, a girl that comes from a wealthy family is supposed to be married to a man who is either of equal financial status or preferably richer. The last and major difference is the religion difference. This difference is not mentioned in the West Side Story. Mariam is a Muslim woman and Tony is a Christian man. According to Islam, it is not permissible for Mariam to get married to Tony. Also, Mariam came from a family that was religiously active and consistently reinforced the teachings and principles of Islam. Theme The whole play revolves around conflicts between the Muslims in Qatar and the American soldiers that are based in Qatar. However, to spark the conflict, the sister of the Islamic groups' leader, Mariam, falls in love with one of the American soldiers, Tony. Thus, the main theme of the play is the challenge of a young Muslim woman to battle with the religious restrictions put on her, to be with the man she loves; and the challenge of the American soldier to be with the woman he loves without dishonoring his countrymen. To understand the theme, it is necessary to understand the major conflict. It can be questioned that if Mariam really loved Tony, why didn't she stand up to her brother and confess Why did she allow her brother to think he can marry her off to Ali It has to be noted that her actions are rooted into her cultural upbringing. Muslim women do not tell their brothers with whom they want to get married to; in fact, women in general do not talk to their brothers about their marriages. If Mariam wanted to marry another Muslim man who was Qatari, it would have been acceptable. She would still have been criticized for her openness in confessing her interest in a man to her own brother, but the conflict would not have been so great; considering the man was also rich. But in this case, Mariam fell in love with a man with whom she had three major differences. First of all, Mariam belonged to a family that owned a lot of property. Mariam came from a wealthy family whereas Tony belonged to a middle class family. In Qatar, women that come from rich families are expected to be married to men of equal, if not higher, financial status. Secondly, there was a race difference. Mariam was born and raised in Qatar whereas Tony was an American. Inter-racial marriages were rare and highly discouraged. However, both cases were acceptable to some extent. But the last and major difference was religion: Mariam was Muslim and Tony was Christian. A Muslim woman marrying a Christian man was not permissible. There was no doubt and no question that Mariam would not have been able to marry Tony; even if he had lived. Mariam is not the only one who has to face problems in this situation. Tony has his share of conflicts as well. Tony sees Mariam and falls in love with her, knowing she is the only one he wants to spend the rest of his life with. He is, however, an American soldier and on duty in Qatar. For Tony, it is very important to preserve his country's pride and honor. The soldiers are consistently warned not to entangle in any sort of affair with the Qatari women. All the American soldiers are well informed that association with the Qatari, especially the ones that are related to religious leaders, could and would lead to a violent response from the Muslim leaders of Qatar. But the warning for Tony did not prove strong enough to prevent him from loving Mariam. Asking Mariam to marry him would have inevitably lead to violence. Another theme, thought minor, was Ibrahim's constant fear that the American soldiers might have affairs with the Qatari women. If Tony openly confesses his love for Mariam, it would prove Ibrahim's fear and the Islamic leaders of Qatar would then have a golden opportunity to criticize the American solders that were stationed in Qatar. Both Mariam and Tony had very difficult conflicts to endure but their love made everything else seem less important. Mariam neglects the norm Qatari society has set for women and secretly continues to love and meet with Tony as Tony neglects the warnings and continues to love and meet with Mariam. Thus, the overall theme of the play revolves around Mariam's and Tony's conflict and love. Characters: Amna Amna plays the role of Anita from The West Side Story. Since the play is being set in Qatar, making Amna the girlfriend did not flow with the play; thus she was made the wife instead. She is the obedient wife and housekeeper. Amna does not want to in any way disappoint her husband, Ibrahim. When going in depth with Amna's character, she represents the right way to live according to Qatar standards. More specifically, since Qatar is an Islamic country, Amna is viewed as a woman who portrays beautifully and accurately her role in the Islamic world; the faithful and respectful wife-one who fears the disappointment of her husband if she does something wrong. Mariam Mariam is the leading female character in the play and plays Maria's role. She does not like to be tied down to a certain way of living. When Mariam sees Tony, she falls in love with him. But she is afraid her sister-in-law will see them talking so she promises to meet him later. For Mariam, Tony is a strong army man with determination and this appeals to Mariam. She wants to marry a man who she feels can make a difference in her life. Mariam is unlike Amna; she wants to break away from the norms of the Islamic world and marry Tony. Mariam is upset with her brother, Ibrahim's, decision to get her married to Ali. She does not feel Ali is the guy she wants to spend the rest of her life with. Ali Ali plays Chico's role in this play. To accommodate with the changes in the play, Ali is not Mariam's fianc. In fact, he is about to get engaged to her but the actual engagement never does take place. Ali is Ibrahim's best friend and characterized as an ideal suitor for Mariam. Ibrahim Ibrahim plays Berando's role in this play. Ibrahim is the brother of Mariam and husband of Amna. For the purpose of the play's conflict, Ibrahim is the leader of Qatar's religious group. He's the guy that promotes Islam and Islam's principles and such. He scorns the American Army that has stationed itself in Qatar. Ibrahim feels the citizens of Qatar do not need the American supervision. He is very critical of these army men and takes every advantage he gets to mock them in public. Ibrahim is very happy his wife is very loyal and respectful and expects his own sister to be Ali's loyal wife. Tony Tony is the leading male character in the play. He has been stationed in the U.S. Army base in Qatar. When he sees Mariam, he falls in love with her. Once again, a little change has been made to flow with the play; instead of meeting at a dance, since co-sex dance parties are not really the culture of an Islamic country, Tony and Mariam meet in a restaurant. Despite Tony's loyalty to his work at the U.S. base, he craves to meet Mariam again. He feels women in Qatar are being suppressed and should have the liberty of choosing whom they want to marry. Casting: Amna The girl who plays Amna has to be Arabic. Amna is portrayed as a housewife; so she should be played by an actress who is very humble. Amna will be seen in very simple clothes; her attire would not be of such that would attract guys. Amna neither puts on a lot of make-up nor does she reveal any part of her body. Amna will mostly wear a head-covering, and a long, flowing outer layer of clothing called an abayya. Also, Amna's voice will be very soft and usually her voice will be full of concern and worry. She should accurately represent the Islamic married woman with her over-protective clothes and modesty; she is not a rebel and thus does not want to break any rules. Mariam Mariam should be played by a headstrong Arabic girl. Living in Qatar she also does wear head-covering, but usually fancy ones. She likes her individuality and is fed up with the hatred between Muslims and Christians. Mariam should have a very confident voice and her posture should also represent this; instead of hiding underneath her layers of clothing and slouching, she wears fitted clothes and sits with her head held high. She is not necessarily seen as a conceited girl, but one who wants to break away from the Islamic norms. Ali Ali is an Arabic guy who's not in command of his own situation. He is seen as a puppet of Ibrahim. Ali follows Ibrahim's orders and is very obedient; he does not question Ibrahim's authority neither makes his own decision. Ali can be seen as someone who lacks confidence and thus should be portrayed as a man who likes to play safe. He is not someone who can make an executive decision; rather, he is dependent on those stronger than him to reply upon. However, there will be a change in his personality when his best friend is killed and he finds out his fianc-to-be is falling in love with Tony; it is then that his ego is wounded and he shoots Tony. Ibrahim Ibrahim is a very religious Arabic guy. Ibrahim at all times has a very stern expression; he is not interested in partying or any such. Ibrahim has to portray a guy who does not like to waste his days enjoying life. His purpose is to educate everyone about the teachings and principles of Islam and therefore he strongly disapproves of the Americans that are based in Qatar. He fears these Americans might have affairs with the Muslim women and this fear is always evident in his eyes-he looks at all Americans with the same mistrust. Tony Tony is an American. His character should be opposite of Ali's, since Mariam greatly despises Ali. Tony is a broad shouldered, army man who looks like he has the whole world under his control. His massive built and sincerity is what really appeals to Mariam. She loves him because he chooses to love her willingly, not because her brother chose him for her. Tony is one who can make his own decisions and his attitude and personality reveal a very powerful and commanding man. Tony is not fearful and does not get intimidated with Ibrahim's mocking; he understands Ibrahim's concern. Mood/Tempo: Act I, Scene I The mood in this scene is initially calm. Amna and Mariam are sitting in a restaurant that is not yet crowded. Nothing exciting is going on, just a few tables and chairs and an ATM Machine in the back on the restaurant. However, the slow mood slightly changes to excited as Tony approaches Mariam and talks to her. Mariam knows she is not supposed to be talking to him yet gets excited when he compliments her veil and in her excitement gives him a jumbled compliment. The scene ends with Mariam telling Tony to go because Amna was coming back; the mood of excitement still remaining. Act I, Scene V This scene is a recreation of the famous Romeo and Juliet balcony. The mood in this scene is unmistakably mellow. There's that innocence of youth and blinded in love. Mariam is afraid because her Mom and Dad constantly call to her but she is unable to resist leaving her lover. Tony asks Mariam to initially come down for a minute, then an hour, and ultimately, forever. Both know the risk of talking and getting caught, but yet the mood created is so sweet that neither are able to break apart from it. Finally Maria goes to listen to her father and returns telling Tony to leave; but as he turns to leave she stops him, asking when they will meet again. She asks Tony to leave but it can be felt that she wants him to stay; her anticipation to meet Tony is evident of her taking risks and falling uncontrollably in love with him. Act I, Scene VII The mood of this scene is once again mellow. The scene starts with Amna and Mariam going over some basic wedding dresses order but as soon as Tony enters, Mariam becomes tense because she fears Amna will tell her parents and Ibrahim. However, Amna trusts Mariam and not wanting to get involved in this matter leaves them two alone. A very romantic mood is set; Tony knows he cannot live without Amna and Amna wants Tony to be with her forever. Prior to Tony's entering, Amna and Mariam were sitting alone, so Mariam had taken off her head covering; but now Tony noticed Mariam for the first without her veil and lowered his eyes, feeling he was disrespecting. With this gesture, Mariam's feelings for Tony become stronger and they do their role play; having each other's parents accept them as part of the family. Act II, Scene I This is a very strong scene in which for the first time Mariam shows her concern openly for Tony in front of Ali. The overall mood for this scene is disbelief leading to enrage. Not only is Mariam unable to believe what has happened, Ali is enraged at Mariam's affection for Tony. The way Ali slams the door as he leaves shatters the previous image of Ali as being a puppet of Ibrahim's; but of course, Ibrahim has died. It seems Ali's ego has wounded. Before Ali leaves, he takes with him Ibrahim's gun; this determination only further depicts the rage in Ali. The rage is also seen as Mariam constantly denies what Ali has told her, calling him a liar. The mood shifts from rage to mellow once again as Tony comes and embraces her, tell her how much he loves her and Mariam tightly embraces him-wanting nothing other than being with him. Act II, Scene VI The mood of this scene can be described as melancholy first and then furious. When Tony calls out to Ali, he really is calling his own death. Tony has been falsely informed that Ali found out about his and Mariam's situation and thus Ali killed her. That's why when Tony sees Mariam, he is surprised; they run to embrace each other but Ali shoots Tony. The shift in the mood then occurs and Mariam becomes furious; she blames everyone, including herself for the death of Tony and Ibrahim. She has lost both her brother and her lover, and in her rage, she points the gun at all those gathered but does not shoot; instead retreats to tears-nothing can be done to bring back the dead. Design Ideas: Act I, Scene I This scene takes place in a restaurant. The time is before lunch hour and that's why the restaurant has not yet been crowded. There are a few tables and chairs; Amna and Mariam are the only two women; there are two or three men reading newspapers, scattered at different tables. Amna and Mariam sit near the entrance table and the ATM machine is located in the back of the restaurant. Amna sits with her back to the entrance door, having a clear view of the back of the restaurant; that is why she can easily tell when Amna is about to return to the table and tells Tony to hurriedly leave. Amna has a simple head-covering and abayya whereas Mariam does wears a fitting deep blue abayya with a silk blue head-covering and Tony is in his uniform. Act I, Scene V In this scene, Mariam is going to be talking to Tony from her balcony; Mariam is seen wearing a long, house dress and a head covering loosely tied, revealing a few strands of her dark brown hair. Tony is no longer in his uniform, he is dressed in casual American clothes. Instead of Ibrahim being at a dance, he's having dinner with his wife at a restaurant. Also, instead of Mariam and Tony singing in the scene, they will both recite the lyrics as poetry, in unison. Once again, the absence of songs and dances is done to adapt to the Qatar culture and environment, where songs and dances do not dominate the culture. Also, Mariam in this scene will be flirtatiously smiling now and then to show her longing for Tony's love and also show her appreciation of Tony's attention. Tony also will be shown as a young teenage boy, winking and flirting to get Mariam's attention. Act I, Scene VII Amna and Mariam are working at the Bridal shop; their job is to make notes on wedding dress orders and see how many orders have completed; etc. Since only Amna is with Mariam, Mariam takes off her head covering. However, when Tony enters, she's so nervous in front of Amna that she forgets to put it back on. It is when Tony lowers his gaze that suddenly makes Mariam aware of this and she quickly wears her head covering. The rumble does stay part of the discussion, since it is vital to the rest of the story's conflict and plot. Mariam asks Tony to try and stop it, since he's a soldier with authority and power. Instead of dummies, Mariam and Tony use the large-size mannequins for the "father" and "mother". Instead of Mariam and Tony kneeling together as though in front of an altar, they both hold hands and look into each others eyes and recite vows. Mariam is not familiar with the Christian way of marriage and Tony is not aware of the Muslim wedding tradition, therefore both of them in general says vows that express their feelings. Act II, Scene I This scene takes place in Mariam's room. Mariam is wearing a fancy, silk gown but when she hears Ali calling out to her, she quickly wears her abayya to hide the elaborate gown and in a hurry wears her head covering. Ali reluctantly comes in and looks to be at the verge of tears. His voice is very soft and he struggles to tell Mariam what happened. As soon as Ali mentions the fight and knife, Mariam lunges forward and clinging to Ali's arms, frantically asks him if Tony is alright. A dramatic change in Ali's character is seen here-where he rudely shakes her off; but does not remove her abayya to reveal her gown. Instead he goes toward the door without saying a word and Mariam follows, begging him to tell her what happened. Facing the door, Ali responds that Ibrahim is dead, and then turns to glare at her, as if it is her fault. Ali takes the gun and leaves while Mariam is left awestricken; she falls to the floor, sobbing for her brother and calling Ali a liar; but Ali has already left. She is still on the floor when Tony comes and she immediately attacks him, calling him a killer. But she becomes weak and tightly clings to Tony. Instead of kissing Tony, she embraces him. When Tony tells her he loves her, she wraps her arms around him tighter-she just wants to escape and by now her head covering has half slipped off her head; she is still wearing her abayya and some hair strands have fallen over face. She cradles into Tony's arm as if she were a child fearing separation. Act II, Scene VI In Act One, we saw the restaurant-this scene takes place outside, in front of the restaurant. Tony no longer looks like the commanding soldier as we saw in the beginning; he looks like a broken man who has lost everything. But his eyes spark as he unexpectedly sees Mariam, whom he was told was killed by Ali. The lights fade everything else and only focus on Mariam and Tony as they run to embrace each other. Mariam is still wearing her abayya but her head covering is slightly slipping; Ali shoots Tony and Mariam rushes to him. Though she knows she's in a public place, she still confesses her love for him. As Tony is dying, Mariam does not sing. In fact, this is the first time throughout the play where Mariam is seen praying; she holds on to Tony's body, and looks up at the skies, praying to God to make everything alright. But when she realizes Tony is dead, her tone shifts from the desperate prayers to accusing frustration at all the American soldiers and Muslim Qataris who had gathered around. At this point, the lights focus shifts from Tony and Mariam to slowly bring the whole place into view. She attempts to point the gun at someone and shoot but realizes she cannot do that; she sinks besides Tony's body, yanks off her head covering and uses it to gently cover his face; by now a light drizzle has started. And the scene ends there. Scene Break Down The scenes all flow smoothly to convey the conflict being portrayed in my modernized version of West Side Story. In total there are five scenes that I discuss. The First Scene-this scene introduces some of the characters and presents part of the conflict. When Amna refuses to have coffee in fear of Ibrahim finding out, it can already be concluded that she is a husband-fearing wife. Mariam, on the other hand, convinces her to have one cup of coffee; confident nothing can possibly go wrong. Also, Mariam complains to Amna about being hooked up with Ali and at the same time shows interest in Tony. Since Tony is dressed in his uniform, Mariam knows from the start what she is getting into. The second scene then leads us into a recreation of the famous Romeo and Juliet balcony scene. In this scene, Mariam's anticipation for Tony is clearly evident. Mariam tells Tony to leave, knowing she cannot meet him because her parents are home, but then at the same time, flirts with him and keeps talking to him. Her mom and dad both call her but she is so deeply involved that she cannot seem to break away from Tony's presence. Finally Mariam tells Tony he must leave, but then calls after him asking him when he will see her again. From this scene, we move on to when Tony and Mariam pretend to be getting married. They make believe the large mannequins are their parents and take turn role playing; asking for each others hand in marriage and in their fantasy being accepted. It is not just a crush that they have, but rather, they are actually dreaming of their future together. But that dream stays a dream. Ali comes to Mariam that Ibrahim has been killed by Tony and thought Mariam calls Ali a liar and Tony a killer, she sinks down to the floor with him and tightly embraces him. From this scene, it can be seen that what started as Tony and Mariam just wanting to meet turned into their desire for eternal togetherness. Mariam knows Tony killed her brother, yet she wants to run away with him, to some place safe; away from all this hatred and fighting. And finally, in our last scene we see that Ali killed Tony. After all, Mariam was supposed to marry Ali, and Tony did kill Ali's best friend, Ibrahim. But Mariam blames everyone, including herself, for both Tony's and Ibrahim's death. The play ends with Tony's death and no matter how much anyone remorsed for him, he was dead. Commentary Since my play was a modernized version of the West Side Story, I had to make certain changes to show my perspective on inter-racial conflicts. I chose American-Arabic conflict because it seems to be a prominent concern today. I did not use the gangs, Sharks and Jets, because I felt it did not accurately pertain to my script. Instead, I showed the battle between the American soldiers who were stationed in Qatar and the members of the Islamic groups, who dominate Qatar. This battle clearly showed how impossible it was for Mariam and Tony to live together. And knowing well the slim chances of ending up together, Mariam and Tony still fell in love and secretly met. My primary focus in this play was developing the characters and designing the scenes in such a way that portrayed my viewpoint. I had an image in my mind as I was working on this and I tried to present that image in words. Read More