People of the Book – 07 October 2024

People of the Book at Urban Stages highlighted how human beings can simultaneously be compassionate, empathetic beings and spiteful, vindictive, selfish messes. In a tale where everyone was to some degree living both a lie and a truth, I strongly identified with all of the characters, but felt free to realign my loyalties and affections as the plot twisted and the deeply flawed nature of humanity was uncovered from the rubble of masking emotions through patriotism, honor, and glory. Playwright Yussef El Guindi’s intricate script interwove many reminders that history is written by the victors and that on person’s daydream is another person’s nightmare.

All four actors did an incredible job of embodying and defying stereotypes in ways that called into question the true definitions of heroism and weakness. I will sort by couples as defined by spousal boundaries for simplicity.

Between Jason (Brian Slaton) and Madeeha (Haneen Arafat Murphy), my questions included: Is it strength merely to survive? Is it weakness to be rescued by a woman? Is it strength to write a novel that is deeply saturated with your pain and use it to escape a war torn country? Is it weakness to allow your life story and your life’s work to be published under your husband’s name?

Between Amir (Ramsey Zitouneh) and Lynn (Sarah McAfee), my questions included: Is it strength to swallow your own needs to support a loved one? Is it weakness to keep reopening conversations that cause a loved one pain? Is it strength to make space in a marriage for differences regarding patriotism? Is it weakness to want to always agree on politics?

There were temporary moments of cross marital alliances, where those who shared ethnic or cultural similarities felt connections that were, in a way, a kind of love. Amir had a curiosity about Madeeha that wasn’t just about the book and her story, but was also about her country. Amir was an Arab American whose subtext implied experiences of discrimination in the United States. There seemed to be a part of him that wanted to know Madeeha’s story and know it from her because he was missing the connection to his ethnic origins because he was born on American soil.

Jason and Lynn connected on a sexual level that for both involved more fantasy than reality—he wanted to be with a version of her he remembered from high school and she wanted to be with a famous author. They both wanted to live these fantasies so much that they had sex in a train station bathroom without being ashamed of it, which begs the seminal question of the play: what is morality and who is truly moral? Madeeha is a Muslim who drinks. Amir is an Arab American. Lynn supports the troops but not the war. Jason’s momentary weakness leads to the fame and fortune he’d consider his greatest achievement.

These characters are contradictions, just like us. They don’t know what’s really right because there’s a difference in how we see big picture concepts and how we see the individuals in front of us. This play did not tell us much about what was going on in the characters’ global circumstances. We don’t know what country Madeeha is from (or even if Amir shares her ancestry). We don’t know actual death tolls or if the United States is the only country fighting Madeeha’s country. The brilliance of El Guindi’s writing is that it forces us to consider geopolitical conflict only through the lens of individuals who are in some way tangibly or emotionally effected by it. We look at this world on the level of individual human beings—and I genuinely found moments of identifying with all of them and being repulsed by all of them.

People of the Book is an accurate portrait of humanity that is beautiful in demanding that we see every human being and every combination of human beings as a contradiction, a duality, a balanced scale. Stories like this are important cultural building blocks to uncovering and enjoying the coexistence of lies and truth. Celebrating humanity involves celebrating our flaws, not just our victories. This show is the embodiment of embracing other people, navigating boundaries without just walking out, and finding the spark of humanity in the least likely places. People of the Book is, without a doubt, a true masterpiece.

I attended this performance on a press pass from JT Public Relations.