Sylvia Khoury’s timely new play at LCT3’s Claire Tow Theater is a gripping drama about Yasmin (Gina Shihabi; Dance Nation), a young Syrian woman at a refugee camp on Lesbos. In observing her tragic experience, we get a microcosm of the enormous refugee problem and the terrible human cost of the Syrian civil war on those who have fled their homeland. To escape the worst problems of the camp, Yasmin has chosen to stay in an olive grove outside the gates, where a power strip brings her the warmth of an electric heater and a charge for her phone. We soon learn why she is so mistrustful when Khaled (Darius Homayoun), a young man newly arrived at the camp with a sick mother, tries to steal her heater while she sleeps. Through flashbacks, we meet her fiancé Peter (Ali Lopez-Sohaili) and learn the awful circumstances that led her to flee Syria. We also meet Abdullah (Peter Ganim; Oslo), an older man who has suffered great loss, who turns to Yasmin for comfort. The story is never less than absorbing but makes an unfortunate turn toward melodrama at the end. The underlying feminist subtext pokes out a bit awkwardly at times. Ms. Shihabi makes a powerful impression. The appropriately drab set by Arnulfo Maldonado (School Girls; A Strange Loop) is marred by excessive use of dry ice. The costumes by Dede Ayite (Slave Play, School Girls) are appropriate. Tyne Rafaeli’s (Usual Girts, I Was Most Alive with You) direction is occasionally a bit slack. The playwright successfully made me care about Yasmin and, through her, the many others she represents. The play offers a suspenseful, occasionally uncomfortable experience but a worthwhile one. Running time: 90 minutes, no intermission.
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