In The Heart Of America

REMZI: I went to the refugee camp nearby but I couldn't speak the language. I could point, though.
CRAVER: We went on alert a couple of times. Lucky we didn't start without you.
REMZI: A Palestinian farmer explained to me that there are three varieties of fig suitable for preserving
- asmar, ashqar, abiyad. The black fig, the blonde and the white. Craver. I was a tourist there. An
outsider.
CRAVER: You're a Palestinian.
REMZI: One old woman took me in for coffee because I didn't know anyone and About the Playwright

Synopsis:

Can love co-exist with a state of war? Remzi and Craver are soldiers serving in the Gulf. They
worship each other's bodies when around them bodies are being destroyed. But after the end
of the war, why does Remzi not return to Kentucky, and why have he and Craver been
haunted by Boxler and Mae Ling, ghosts from another American battleground?

Reviews:
review by kevin johnson
The play is set between two different eras: the first Gulf War of 1990 and the crux of Vietnam in 1969.
A young Palestinian woman, Fairouz Saboura, is questioning an American soldier about the
whereabouts of her brother, Remzi, who was in his first tour of duty. Craver Perry was with Remzi in
the Gulf, but he is evasive with answers to Fairouz’s inquisition.
Wallace also opens plotlines as memories of Craver and Remzi come to life. Craver, from Kentucky, is
considered “white trash” while Remzi is an American of Palestine descent. These are only labels as the
young men grow closer, fall in love, and have a secret affair. Within this structure lies their
commanding officer, Lieutennant Boxler, trying to train the duo for combat. Using their differences
against them, Boxler pushes his men to the limit, telling them to harness their anger for the enemy.
Boxler has issues of his own as a spirit imbues his body while another ghost is there to haunt him. The
spirit of William Calley, who massacred more than 500 civilians at My Lai in 1968, is using Boxler as
an vessel while Lu Ming is trying to hunt Calley down. Seems that Calley murdered her infant daughter
in Vietnam. Lu Ming finds somewhat of an ally in Fairouz as they both search for answers leading up
to some bitter confrontations.
Naomi Wallace was an established poet before she went into playwriting, and it shows throughout In
the Heart of America. Like a boxer with quick feet, Wallace bobs and weaves through storylines trying
to tie both wars together. Allegories aside, there is a lot of potent and powerful moments in this play
that has to be recognized: Fairouz trying to connect with her brother through Craver; Craver’s guilt
over Remzi’s fate; Calley and Boxler fighting over who reigns; while Lu Ming tries to find justice.
Sadly, the quintet only shows specks of diverse range while the script is electric all the way through.
As Craver, Todd Bruno shows intensity and emotion. Perry is a wall of contradictions, yet Bruno shows
Perry’s guilt weighing heavy on his soldiers because he actually loved Remzi. Haylee Elkayam runs a
gamut of emotions as Fairouz. From concerned sister to angry foreigner, Elkayam sticks to her agenda;
we believe that she wants answers because there is a void in her heart. Craver is the only one now who
will give Fairouz peace. The chemistry between Bruno and Elkayam is emotional and moves like
clockwork as they both try to put pieces together in a convoluted puzzle.
A CurtainUp Review

In the Heart Of America

By Kathryn Osenlund

Why are we killing Arabs?

For love. Say it's for love. Don't say it's for oil. Say it
just once for me. We're here for love.
--- interchange between Craver Perry and Remzi
Saboura

Perhaps Naomi Wallace believes that the magic of poetry conquers all. The Philadelphia premiere of
her 1994 play, In the Heart of America is being presented by the InterAct Theatre Company at the
Adrienne. Artistic director Seth Rozin finds the agenda of this poetic anti-war love play written in
reaction to the Gulf War of 1991, and laced with intimations of Vietnam, pertinent to the current Iraq
situation and suited to the liberal political philosophy and mission of InterAct. But can poetry conquer
the play's problems?

Early on, the ghost of a Vietnamese woman, hanging around in the aftermath of the last Iraq war, asks
for Calley. Does she mean the Lt. Calley of 1968? She does. InterAct's audience knows from Calley. I
wondered if the playwright could count on Calley being common knowledge elsewhere. In order to
have a clue about parts of this play, that would be a prereq. (The morning after seeing the play I asked a
few twenty-something college graduates, including a former marine, "Who was Lt. Calley?" They had
no idea.)

Primarily this is a love story about two soldiers --one, Remzi Saboura, an Arab-American who wants to
be American without the hyphen, the other, Craver Perry, a White trash river boy. Ably played by
Kevin Prowse (Remzi) and Davey White (Craver), the young men's smaller, more visceral moments are
the best scenes in the play. Notably an episode where Remzi shares a bag of figs with Craver is full of
little intimacies and theatrical promise. To pass the time Craver memorizes ways to kill and lists
weapons in a mantra or lullaby.

The soldiers' sensual weapon--love talk-- showcases Wallace's poetry:"Ever had a Phoenix missile at
the tip of your tongue?". . ."A kiss is like the AV AB Harrier 2 straight up in the air. . .VTO straight up."
Almost but not quite too weird to be comic, the two young soldiers rehearse how one will walk to
approach the body if the other is killed. They find a walk with "a quiet sense of pride."

A downside to even these great little moments is that although in a poetic work, verisimilitude is not of
primary importance, it is disconcerting to watch a play about soldiers who are so non-regulation that it
strains credulity. Some resemblance to the actual military would help.

In another part of the story two women, one alive, one a ghost, search for answers and for two men,
both dead. Lue Ming (Jennifer Kato) is the ghost of a Vietnamese woman killed by Lt. Calley,
presumably at My Lai. She searches for him and haunts Boxler (Buck Schirner). The other woman,
Fairouz Saboura (Soraya Broukhim), soldier Remzi's sister, tries to discover what happened to him. In
a companion scene to the young soldiers' walking practice the women demonstrate ways of walking in
their cultures.
Parts of the stories seem contrived and are difficult to follow: The significance of the gift of a ram's
horn falters. It is for the dead soldier 's sister. She asks, "If you blow it, it will make a noise?" It seems
the horn is meant to help her find her voice. However, this is a woman whose voice has been all-too-
found throughout the play, rendering this theme incomprehensible. The sister-brother crucible, an
intended major motif and underpinning, just doesn't come across.

Boxler, a souldier, and Universal Soldier type is over the top with his sadomasochistic, twisted
interrogation games, racial epithets, and philosophies, "Facts are not infallible. They are there to be
interpreted in a way that is useful to you." A conundrum, Boxler is conflated with Lt. Calley. How this
happens is not clear. An enigma for the sake of an enigma?

Playwright Wallace, the '99 recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, is interested in exploring in her
work how different times will collide or resonate with each other. What's missing here is the logical
connect.

This is a poetry play looking for something solid. The set, overly-lighted to represent the burning sun
of the desert by day, evokes nothing so much as "stage set," exposing the paint and seams of set pieces
better left unnoticed. Nor are possibilities for the romantic light of evening exploited as they might be.
It's just kind of fuzzy. A scene with lanterns begs for, but doesn't get, deep nuanced lighting. The very
best lighting (and make up) is found in the initial scenes with the Vietnamese ghost as she half
glimmers in the dim light.

Insofar as the structure of this play allows, Rozin has done some wonderful work. The flexibility and
fluidity with which he utilizes limited space to reflect shifts of time and space/living and dead is
remarkable. The direction of the actors is admirable, and performances are marvelous, notably those of
Prowse, Kato, and White.

Unfortunately, rewarding little intimacies are too infrequent and fuzziness and sweeping statements too
populous. Many mystery elements remain mysteries to the end. Underdeveloped or unresolved story
lines about war horrors, expiation, love, and homophobia never tie together; consequently the play fails
to reconcile its parts into a cohesive whole. It just doesn't seem completely thought out, despite the
many fine directorial choices and a good cast and team of designers. It is as if at some level they trust,
with the playwright, that poetic magic is going to take care of everything.

Most of all In the Heart of America is disappointing because it lacks clarity, with nothing fully realized.
The problem is not so much the murk of war or memory, but the murk of muddled writing.
In the Heart of America
Playwright, Naomi Wallace
Directed by Seth Rozin

Cast: Davey White, Soraya Broukhim, Jennifer Kato, Kevin Prowse, Buck Schirner
Scenic Design: Dirk Durossette
Lighting Design: Peter Jakubowski
Costume Design: Karen Ann Ledger
Sound Designer: Kevin Francis Running time just under 2 hours with one 15 min
intermission
InterAct Theatre Company at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom Street 215.568.8077
Web: www.interacttheatre.org I
02/13/04 - 03/14/04;

opening 02/18/04

Reviewed by Kathryn Osenlund based on 02/18 performance

IN THE HEART OF AMERICA

"IN THE HEART OF AMERICA is a pretty startling piece of writing. It has the driving
political anger and entwining of the personal and political that marked some of
the best British writing of the early seventies, the vigor and mystical overtones of
raw Sam Shepard, and the grace and sensuality of a poet....
The landscape here is the barren, burned-out emptiness of history's war zones,
and the talk is relentlessly of death and destruction. But there is also love."
Lyn Gardner, The Guardian (London)

RIVERSIDE, CA-
The Department of Theatre at the University of California, Riverside, is pleased to present IN THE
HEART OF AMERICA by Naomi Wallace.
Angry about what had been done to Iraq in the Gulf War of 1991, playwright Naomi Wallace
researched for two years before writing IN THE HEART OF AMERICA, exploring the
interconnectedness of things: violence and politics, racism and war, class and desire. She was interested
in the 'American way' of war, how language is used to inspire and underline aggression, how racism is
used to dehumanize the 'enemy', how the language of war is made erotic and enticing. "War is, on one
level, a simple question of how to best tear as many bodies apart in as little time as possible, and
necessarily not about freedom and liberation," she wrote.
The centerpiece of the story is the buddy relationship between two American soldiers: Appalacian-born
Craver Perry and Palestinian-American Remzi Saboura, who understands the Israeli-Palestinian
problem from a distance. The two men bond in a way characteristic of soldiers, but their emotional
relationship seamlessly blends into intimacy and frank homoeroticism, without ever being explicitly
sexual. This is true emotional bonding at the deepest levels, with great tenderness and affection
growing throughout the play.
Many immigrants from the Muslim world are conflicted by their desire to become assimilated
Americans while retaining their cultural identity. These issues are heightened as the United States
becomes increasingly anti-Muslim. While the play deals with Remzi's wish to 'become an American', it
is also about the irony that becoming American means killing other Arabs-other people who are not
white. Wallace writes, "We live today in a virulently racist culture, and Muslims are receiving much of
the worst this. But this is not happening in a vacuum. There are many progressive anti-war and anti-
racist forces aligning themselves against these forces. I don't know what I would write if I wrote this
play today."