by Kholoud Sawaf

Sometimes as directors, we have to say no.

As a Syrian Muslim woman director in the United States, I often get approached with projects that aim to speak to my identity and perspective. Though it is wonderful that there is a notion in the theatre scene in the United States to tell different stories and hear from different voices, cultural and religious accuracy are still not getting enough focus and support during the selection process.

As the director I am, I have had to say no and turn down 6-8 projects in the last couple years that invited my involvement at different professional levels. Each time I was approached, I was excited for the potential opportunity, only to discover that the piece-usually written by a white, privileged American artist with good intentions but little firsthand experience-was incredibly offensive to my culture and/or religion. The plays trafficked in stereotypes of terrorists, downtrodden Muslim women, fundamentalist doctrine, or other cliches that are unrecognizable to me and my Muslim friends and colleagues.

There seems to be a great desire to write plays about Islam as well as about Syria, and though that is a welcome gesture toward learning and exposure, I’m struggling as a Syrian and as a Muslim with works that lack true perspective. Many of those plays were very well intended with a good message, but due to the lack of authenticity in the voice, they made me feel othered and alienated as a Muslim and reduced to an issue as a Syrian.

As a rising director, I want and need these opportunities, and I’m always appreciative to be asked to consider a project, but when I read a script that I feel I can’t stand behind in front of my cast, let alone in front of an audience, I always choose to say no. On some occasions, I have reached out to playwrights directly to share feedback but have rarely received a welcome response, which I find sad and disappointing.

“I invite artists to know they have the power to say no when they disagree with a piece and its core values”

I invite playwrights to talk to people with firsthand perspective when making a play and potentially co-create it with them. I hope that playwrights realize that such issues need more than a couple months of research, and hope that they also come to value accuracy as much as artistic advancement. That accuracy will only be achieved by true collaborations with people with perspective-not only with actors who have little control in the room, but also creators who helve an equal voice. I also invite theatre leaders to seek input from those voices before programming a piece that might seem “diverse” or well-intentioned when they read it but might not be aware that the piece, in fact, might be doing more harm than good.

Playwrights who couldn’t locate Syria on the map nine years ago and who now feel they should and can write a piece about the Syrian refugees and our struggle treat me as an issue instead of seeing me as a human being with a history and future, and needs and wants. The news has turned Syrians into a symbol of violence and Islam to ideas and stereotypes, and I choose to say no to that I don’t belong to any of those ideas, and I know many of my fellow Syrians and fellow Muslims don’t either.

Today, I invite artists to know they have the power to say no when they disagree with a piece and its core values. We have to stop being the means/ladder of someone else’s career advancement. I am sure that there are other pieces on the way, pieces that we can stand behind and defend and feel proud to be part of.

KHOLOUD SAWAF is a native Syrian from Damascus and has worked in documentary filmmaking and theatre in Beirut, Syria, Dubai, and the US. She holds a B.A. in Mass Communication from the American University of Shajrah and an M.F.A. in Directing from the University of Arkansas. She is adapting and directing an original adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, R&J Damascus, in collaboration with TheatreSquared in Fayetteville, AR. The project was awarded a $250,000 grant from the Doris Duke Foundation’s Building Bridges Program. Directing credits include: Vietgone (TheatreSquared); Merci Maurer and Veils (ArkansasStaged); Summer 840 (Skyline Theatre, United Arab Emirates); Damascus: A Red Rose (AI­Qabbani Theatre, Syria). Assistant directing: Vietgone at Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Manhattan Theatre Club with director May Adrales, Cymbeline (Shakespeare & Company) with director Tina Packer. Kholoud is a Drama League Directing Fellow, an Associate Member of SDC, and a member of Nihna Cultural Group in Damascus.

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