THE ROAD TO PARADISE by Jonathan Garfinkel and Christopher Morris (Human Cargo/Crows Theatre). At Buddies in Bad Times (12 Alexander). Runs to November 28 at 8 pm, matinee Saturday 2:30 pm. $20-$37. 416-975-8555, buddiesinbadtimes.com. Rating: NNN
In The Road To Paradise, war infiltrates the lives of three intersecting sets of characters and their stories, bringing upheaval to all.
Its an often fascinating journey that playwrights Jonathan Garfinkel and Christopher Morris take us on, from Pakistan to Canada to Afghanistan and back to Canada, characters introduced early on popping up unexpectedly in later narratives.
We begin with the tale of Sohail (Andrew Lawrie), a boy convinced by the Taliban to be a child suicide bomber, captured by the ruling military before he can detonate his explosive vest. Hes sent to a school for treatment and rehabilitation, where a compassionate doctor (Samiya Mumtaz) and a brutal officer (Sanjay Talwar) are at odds over how to treat him and what his future might be.
The two are also in conflict with Sohails desperate, increasingly irate mother (Cheri Maracle), who has lost her husband and doesnt want to lose her son.
In the second story, we meet two couples at the Canadian Forces Base in Petawawa. The wives (Christine Horne and Maracle) are concerned about their husbands deployment to Afghanistan, the men (Lawrie and Beau Dixon) eager to help the locals and provide humanitarian support. Things dont go well for any of the four.
Finally were back in Canada: a relative from the previous story helps settle an Afghan mother and son, Wajma (Parwin Mushtael) and Qais (Mumtaz), who have fled their homeland after Wajmas husband was killed. The reason? Wajma was considered to have shamed her family by being an actor, and her spouse refused to do anything.
In the hands of director Morris, the production is a striking one, the scenes moving almost filmically from one to the next. But the writing is sometimes a problem, the short scenes having a choppy or sketchy feel just as we get involved in an interaction or confrontation, were whisked away to something else.
But theres much to admire here, starting with the performances. Mumtaz stands out as the naive doctor in the first part and the initially quiet, then angry boy in the last. Mushtael has a powerful presence as both Wajma and her misogynistic brother-in-law, while Dixon offers a pent-up energy to his distraught Petawawa soldier. Maracle vibrates with passion in both her roles, and Talwar, who starts out as a chilling officer, ends the play as a sympathetic caregiver. The fine Horne suggests a raw edge to her nervous army wife, and Lawrie creates the right note of innocence in his young, would-be suicide bomber.
The staging is also fine, the audience sitting around the action, which takes place on a red, sand-like floor that allows for surprising appearances by some of the characters. Gillian Gallows set and costumes, lit magically by Michelle Ramsay, are excellent, as is Richard Ferens music and sound design.
By the shows end we have a multi-sided look at how war affects all the characters, inflicting physical and psychological violence the anger we witness is turned, scarily, as much inward as outward.
