The story tells of the court trial of a young, white woman (Susie), recently converted to Islam, who wants to travel to Syria to join Isis, and of a Muslim woman (Ms Fasi), who passionately believes in the good of Islam and is the prosecutor on the case. Ms Fasi is angered by a white woman soiling the face of Islam and encouraging hatred towards all Muslims by supporting Isis and increasing terror of the Islamic faith. Throughout the play, there are moments of pure, epic feminism, where the two women stand their ground and fight back against their male superiors (in terms of in the workplace: for Ms Fasi, this is her white, male boss, and for Susie, this is her white, male lawyer). Another theme this play explores is the father-daughter relationship: in the case of the two female protagonists, there are parallels in their relationships with their fathers in the fact that neither women are particularly close to their father, both partly due the women’s choice of wearing the hijab.
Although simple, the set has a powerful impact on the mood of the play, as without the hassle of moving around furniture, the audience’s focus is completely on the characters and message of the play. The set is a completely bare stage, with only projections on the wall behind representing the setting (at some points, there is a split screen of projections, showing a lawyer’s office and an interrogation room). One of the most intriguing projections is the smiling face emoji on the wall which represents Susie’s Isis soldier fiancée on social media when she is communicating with him. The smiling face could be interpreted as the fact that one can never truly know who they are communicating with without having met the person first, and thus the name of the play, Faceless.
The lighting used in this play cleverly manipulates the atmosphere of the scene. For example, every time Susie goes online to communicate with her fiancée, the stage goes dark with the exception of the spotlight on Susie and the emoji, suggesting that whilst Susie is texting him, she is isolated from the rest of the world, and therefore cannot get help from her peers to perhaps realise her decisions are askew. Each setting has a different light: the interrogation room, where Susie is kept, is lit blue (representing the cold, sad loneliness of the situation) and the prosecutor’s office is lit orange (representing the determined passion Ms Fasi has to win her case). Since one of the main themes of the play is religion, there are a few times in the play where the two Muslim women hold up their arms and pray, during which the stage goes completely red, symbolising the fiery, intense passion the women have for their Islamic faith, as well as the anger and frustration that being Muslims can bring, when people discriminate against the women.
One of my favourite parts of the play is the discussion of feminism, portrayed by the strong, feisty and powerful women who both, in their own ways, chase their goals, without the help of their male bosses. It is refreshing and awesome to see a play, where, in the first ten minutes, a Muslim woman fiercely slams down her boss’ racist and sexual comments. In Ms Fasi, the audience sees an independent woman, who is not only unafraid to rise up against men who are rude and inappropriate in the workplace, but also a woman who is determined to defend her religion by making sure her case against Susie wins. She is intent on proving society that being a Muslim woman does not make her inferior or less capable than a white man or anyone else.
Another aspect of the play that I enjoyed was learning about the lives of normal Muslim women, because the media and news normally only cover those who have chosen to join Isis, therefore some may be under the assumption that all Muslims are somehow connected to such a horrible terrorist group. However, the play makes clear that the religion of Islam is not Isis and that terrorism is any act of violence against innocents, not just the horrific acts Isis commits. Faceless also shines a light on the discrimination Muslims still face in everyday society and in the workplace, as well as the stigma around Muslim women wearing hijabs, which was discussed with Aliyah Saleem (author of “Leaving Faith Behind”) and Prav MJ (the director of the play) after the play.
Overall, Faceless is a thought-provoking play with very important messages, relevant in present-day society. The play ends asking the question of what is terrorism - the actual act of committing the violence, or the support of terrorists on social media? Furthermore, the play suggests that there is no face of terrorism; a terrorist can be anyone from a teenage white girl to a big, brown man, and thus the name of the play, Faceless. Due to the themes of racism, sexism and terrorism, I would recommend this play to anyone interested in these issues or in the views of today’s society; however, children under the age of 10 may not understand the themes discussed in the play.
Although simple, the set has a powerful impact on the mood of the play, as without the hassle of moving around furniture, the audience’s focus is completely on the characters and message of the play. The set is a completely bare stage, with only projections on the wall behind representing the setting (at some points, there is a split screen of projections, showing a lawyer’s office and an interrogation room). One of the most intriguing projections is the smiling face emoji on the wall which represents Susie’s Isis soldier fiancée on social media when she is communicating with him. The smiling face could be interpreted as the fact that one can never truly know who they are communicating with without having met the person first, and thus the name of the play, Faceless.
The lighting used in this play cleverly manipulates the atmosphere of the scene. For example, every time Susie goes online to communicate with her fiancée, the stage goes dark with the exception of the spotlight on Susie and the emoji, suggesting that whilst Susie is texting him, she is isolated from the rest of the world, and therefore cannot get help from her peers to perhaps realise her decisions are askew. Each setting has a different light: the interrogation room, where Susie is kept, is lit blue (representing the cold, sad loneliness of the situation) and the prosecutor’s office is lit orange (representing the determined passion Ms Fasi has to win her case). Since one of the main themes of the play is religion, there are a few times in the play where the two Muslim women hold up their arms and pray, during which the stage goes completely red, symbolising the fiery, intense passion the women have for their Islamic faith, as well as the anger and frustration that being Muslims can bring, when people discriminate against the women.
One of my favourite parts of the play is the discussion of feminism, portrayed by the strong, feisty and powerful women who both, in their own ways, chase their goals, without the help of their male bosses. It is refreshing and awesome to see a play, where, in the first ten minutes, a Muslim woman fiercely slams down her boss’ racist and sexual comments. In Ms Fasi, the audience sees an independent woman, who is not only unafraid to rise up against men who are rude and inappropriate in the workplace, but also a woman who is determined to defend her religion by making sure her case against Susie wins. She is intent on proving society that being a Muslim woman does not make her inferior or less capable than a white man or anyone else.
Another aspect of the play that I enjoyed was learning about the lives of normal Muslim women, because the media and news normally only cover those who have chosen to join Isis, therefore some may be under the assumption that all Muslims are somehow connected to such a horrible terrorist group. However, the play makes clear that the religion of Islam is not Isis and that terrorism is any act of violence against innocents, not just the horrific acts Isis commits. Faceless also shines a light on the discrimination Muslims still face in everyday society and in the workplace, as well as the stigma around Muslim women wearing hijabs, which was discussed with Aliyah Saleem (author of “Leaving Faith Behind”) and Prav MJ (the director of the play) after the play.
Overall, Faceless is a thought-provoking play with very important messages, relevant in present-day society. The play ends asking the question of what is terrorism - the actual act of committing the violence, or the support of terrorists on social media? Furthermore, the play suggests that there is no face of terrorism; a terrorist can be anyone from a teenage white girl to a big, brown man, and thus the name of the play, Faceless. Due to the themes of racism, sexism and terrorism, I would recommend this play to anyone interested in these issues or in the views of today’s society; however, children under the age of 10 may not understand the themes discussed in the play.