It’s an hour and a half of intense dialogue with a conclusion that shakes you to the core, even though you know there can’t be a happy ending.
Ilan Hastor’s Masked is a new play at the Neptune Studio Theatre that tells the story of three Palestinian brothers torn between duty, kinship, principles and survival during the first Intifada.
The play, directed by Halifax’s Anthony Black, is set entirely in a butcher shop in the West Bank in 1990, and stars Ketch Harbour’s Theo Pitsavas (Daoud), and Toronto’s Karan Oberoi (Na’im) and Ali Momen (Khalid).
Besides the opening scene between Oberoi and Momen where they talk openly and explain the conflict between the brothers, the three actors are always on stage together. Oberoi’s character is a Palestinian rebel who wonders if his oldest brother, Daoud, is an Israeli informant. The youngest brother, Momen, is stuck in the middle of everything and struggles to know where his loyalties should lie.
All three deliver strong performances -- vital to a play such as this, where there are no other characters, very few props and the same set throughout. The characters are believable and do a great job of drawing you into this family's strife, while also pushing you to question who to believe and who to feel sorry for.
The writing is also strong, but requires considerable concentration as the story is told slowly and in great detail. The performance is not boring, however, as the suspense and highly-charged interactions keep you fixated on the stage throughout.
The ending is both frightening and disturbing, but necessary for a conflict like this. Anything less doesn’t give proper context to an Intifada which killed more than 2,000 people, most of whom were Palestinians.
This play isn’t for everyone. You won’t find laughs or get any breaks from the intensity-filled situation. But if suspenseful, real-life dramas are for you, Masked is a must see.
