“Layalina”

I am not a geography buff and found myself confused about Iraq ( where the first act takes place) and the story. The family that we spend our time with is Assyrian, and in the second act, some 17 years later, we are in Skokie ( our suburb that has a huge Syrian population). Written by Martin Yousif Zebari, this story appears to be HIS story with his family and their migration to Skokie, as well as life’s adjustments to their new world.

Smoothly directed by Sivan Battat, on a set designed by Casaboyce, although the two homes resemble each other, there are major differences in the way one lives in Skokie compared to Baghdad. We can also see how the clothing (costumes by Dina El-Aziz) is different. Jason Lynch’s lighting works, and while the sound (Eric Backus and Ronnie Malley) was fine, I still feel that the actors of today are not being trained to speak to the back row. It is called projection and the director should check, or put some microphones on the actors.

The actors in this play do double duty.Waseem Alzer plays Sahir and Amin, Atra Asdou brings both Karima and Layal to life in an extraordinary pair of performances, Ali Louis Bourzgui handles the young Mazin and Yousif, the adorable Becca Khalil is the Young Layal and Marwa and Mattico David handles Yasir and in act two, Mazin, who is visiting his family in Skokie and sees the changes that have taken place through the eyes of an Assyrian.

The story deals with the war in Iraq, the migration of many, in particular, this family to America ( and Skokie), and how they try to keep some of their traditions.  There is also the other theme of gender splendor and homosexuality. Marwa is non-binary, Mazin and  Amin are gay., so the story deals with the changes in their lives and how cultures deal with things that are different and often beyond one’s control. Having the actors play in both acts could have been confusing, but was done in a manner that avoided this. The ability of each performer to become a different personality is special and the story is one that teaches us about life in a culture that was different than our own.