| Who is a Domestic Crusader? |
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| Written by Mariam Jukaku | |||||
| Friday, 24 April 2009 | |||||
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Wajahat Ali found himself in a short story writing class during his senior year at the University of Calif. Berkeley, scrambling to complete units for his English major. He started out writing funny monologues of a female mosquito bemoaning her single status. But in the aftermath of 9/11 and with the encouragement of his professor, he ended up with a 20-page play – a day in the life of a Pakistani American family – that has been transformed into a stage production and has landed him critical acclaim. The play, Domestic Crusaders, opens in New York on Sept. 11 and Ali will host a screening tomorrow in Los Angeles at the Levantine Cultural Center.  The cast of Domestic Crusaders, a play by Wajahat Ali Ali spoke with MAJA about his play. The 28-year-old attorney-by-day, playwright-by-night from Fremont, Calif. discovered the importance of American Muslim theater to both Muslim and non-Muslim audiences. MAJA: Tell us a little about the play. WA: It’s in the vein of traditional American dramas, it’s a kitchen drama. It takes people back to their roots. It takes place in one day. There’s Hakim, a retired Pakistani army general, his immigrant son Salman and wife Khulsoom, and their children. The eldest Sal, middle Fatima, and youngest Ghafur. They convene for the birthday party of Ghafur, who’s turning 21. It’s very old-school and very new school. MAJA: What do you mean? WA: From a generational point of view, it’s traditions conflicting with the rise of modernity - how we choose to identify ourselves. [The themes] are very universal. Stylistically how the play is written is very old school. Many of the themes - family, marriage, generational conflict - it’s a very old school, kitchen drama. It takes place in a confined space. The way it’s presented is very new school. The language is spoken not cleanly. You see “Urdish” - Urdu mixed in with Arabic, mixed in with slang, business language, mixed in with butchered Urdu. It’s language that makes certain people very uncomfortable.  Wajahat Ali Some people with old school theater ask why can’t you translate everything. But if I use Urdu or Arabic [in the dialogue], one of the characters semi translates it or from the context you can figure it out. MAJA: You recently had a screening and fundraising in New York, where the play is set to open on Sept. 11. What was the reaction there? WA: One man, an African American man, stood up at the end and said “This is my family.” Another subscriber (to the theater) said, “I just wanna ask one thing. Where can I buy the script? I loved it.” MAJA: Why did you decide to premiere the New York production of the play on Sept. 11? WA: It’s a watershed moment, it’s a historical reminder of when the world went mad. It’s a perfect time to confront that historical reality with a play that confronts those topics of religion and identity and politics head on, with authentic dialogue. But, not in a way that is pandering or incites rage … but truthfully and authentically attack these issues with art. We can talk to each other instead of at one another. MAJA: Who’s your favorite character and why? WA: I love all of them. MAJA: What about the audience, who do they connect with? WA: The audience generally loves the mom and the grandfather. The mom reminds them of their own mom, a universally beloved icon. The grandfather is the most eccentric. The most divisive character, ironically, is also the grandfather because you learn a lot about him in the end. And Fatima. [Her character] has to be played with a level of intelligence and warmth because she’s very vocal and passionate and tells it how it is. Otherwise she comes off as bratty. None of these characters are perfect. People [who watch the play] own the characters. You see the middle-age fathers really identify with the father. You see first generation Muslims or sisters [of] first generation Muslims identify with Sal. People identify with Ghafur’s idealism. MAJA: How did you ensure your characters stayed real – true to their own identity but still appealing to a mainstream audience? WA: By staying true to the themes, keeping the language raw, keeping it politically incorrect even if it was much easier not to. People say racist stuff and complain about being stereotyped. Keeping the characters contradictory. If you don’t neuter the politics, culture, religion, language, you know you’re keeping it real; If I’m showing the characters full of their warts and I don’t mind exposing them, then I know I’m keeping it real. [The dialogue] will resonate with their reality. If it placates people its like cotton candy, it goes down easy but rots your teeth, as opposed to something you can chew on, you have to work on it a little. MAJA: Why did you choose the title Domestic Crusaders?
WA: It’s a very apt name, it really fits the play. It’s a provocative title. You have this word crusaders, I wanted to defang and re-fang the word. Bush used the word crusade and it elicited such heated passions. It strongly illuminated the conflict of Muslim v. Christian, East v. West. It’s obvious that narrative had not died down. With a title like Domestic Crusaders you can humanize a people that have been dehumanized for so long. MAJA: Who were your inspirations, personally and artistically? WA: There was not a single character - I didn’t model [the characters] off anyone I know. It’s an amalgamation of all these people I’ve known my whole life. I’ve benefited growing up as an American, a Muslim and a Pakistani. You mix and match all your personal experience and all your personal observations. People call me a playwright, but I’m not really. I read Qu’ran and esoteric Sufi literature and I read comic books. I’m on my way right now to buy my weekly comic books. I read popular fiction, Arthur Miller and Eugene O’Neill and nonfiction books on politics and history - anything that holds my interest I have read and I read. If you see or read Domestic Crusaders that answer makes a lot of sense. MAJA: What’s your message to young Muslims who are thinking of becoming playwrights or journalists or writers? WA: If we don’t speak out and if we don’t air our voice then our voice will be outsourced or commoditized or taken over by self-proclaimed experts who usually use and abuse our experience for self profit. If we don’t use speak out through poetry, through plays, through journalism, then we will be eradicated. This is the 21st century. The battle ground is the war of ideas, and words are our ammunition. Story telling in the form of plays, poems, spoken word or op-eds or journalism has Islamic roots. It’s a very Muslim thing. Words and stories – Muslim American words ands stories - can be our true gift to our culture and our world. If we don’t step up to the plate, others will and they’ll hijack our voice.
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