I Call My Brothers – Location, Tickets, Reviews
Written by Swedish playwright Jonas Hassen Khemiri, author of the critically acclaimed Invasion! (2011), I Call My Brothers makes its U.S. debut with The Play Company at New Ohio Theatre this month. Khemiri developed I Call My Brothers, first a novel then the play, after a bombing in Stockholm in 2010. It is based, in part, on his experience in Stockholm following that bombing.
The story is a psychological examination of Amor, an Arab-American, as he treks through New York City on a mundane errand after an explosion in Time Square. Details about a suspect in connection with the explosion emerge and many of them describe Amor. Aware of — or imagining — suspicious gazes from passers-by, he becomes increasingly anxious. Quickly, phone conversations, memories, and paranoia weave together and set Amor on an intense exploration of his identity.
Maxamoo
I Call My Brothers attempts the difficult task of demonstrating a person’s psychological response to being under suspicion. What does it feel like to be profiled as a potential threat by the police and by ordinary people because of the color of your skin or the clothes you wear? The first few layers are obvious: anger, sadness, and helplessness. But then what? Does the overwhelming perception of others impact how you view yourself and, perhaps most frighteningly, does it change who you are?
Whether Khemiri succeeds in his quest is for each viewer to determine. At Maxamoo, we are split, one writer found the production affecting and illuminating, another thought it attempted too much and that touching on so many aspects of Amor’s life–friendship, love, and family–diluted the theme. We both deemed it a production worth seeing and appreciated Khemiri’s dark humor and compassion towards his characters.
The production has an unconventional set comprised of chairs in rows that mirror the auditorium. Although it doesn’t resemble any of the locations in which the story takes place, it delivers a sense of realness beyond physical locality.
Public Opinion
The Twitterpinion:
@dramabookshop: I CALL MY BROTHERS by @jhkhemiri @playcompany beautifully written tale of near disintegration of young Arab science nerd in post 9/11 world
@vacation4chris: Go see #ICallMyBrothers — great play @NewOhioTheatre in #NYC on identity and racial profiling. Tix @playcompany on http://playco.org
Have you seen I Call My Brother? What did you think? Comment below or tweet us at @Maxamoo
Critics’ Reviews
New York Times
You’re a Suspect. That’s the Drill.
New York Post
The paranoid mind-set of a terrorism suspect in ‘I Call My Brothers’
TheaterMania
This U.S. premiere by Swedish playwright Jonas Hassen Khemiri is simultaneously familiar and sublimely lonely
Lighting And Sound America
I Call My Brothers seems like something of a missed opportunity, a collection of wryly humorous and caustic elements that never really quite gel.
New York Theatre Review
It’s a heartfelt, compassionate show that keeps you guessing.
NYtheater Now
The ideas underlying the play are so powerful, but they don’t feel fully realized in this form.
Time Out New York
Khemiri is so fixated on ambiguity and evasiveness that he leaves us utterly confused.
Exeunt Magazine
[C]all your “brothers” or your homies or whoever you hang with and give this show a look.
TICKETS
$25-$40 (click here for tickets)
DATES
Performances through February 23, 2014
LOCATION
New Ohio Theatre
154 Christopher Street
New York City
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RUNNING TIME
1 hour 20 minutes, no intermission
CAST & CREW
Written by Jonas Hassen Khemiri
Translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles
Directed by Erica Schmidt
Featuring Dahlia Azama, Francis Benhamou, Damon Owlia, Rachid Sabitri