Back of the Throat

Yussef El Guindi’s Back of the Throat premiered in 2005, as wars dragged on in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the same time, Arab and Muslim culture had a brief moment of popularity in American theatre, partly to counteract Bush-era politics and stereotypes. The play is about an Arab-American writer named Khaled who is trapped in a violent, Kafkaesque encounter with federal agents who suspect he is linked to a dead terrorist. Does the play hold up thirteen years later? It’s early to say; this production at Brown, directed by senior Ahmed Ashour, runs for one weekend only.