Playwright offers look into world of Islam

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

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Readings, discussions "Women in Modernity," monologues, including "Afghan Woman," excerpted from Sharif's plays 2 p.m. today Earle Ernst Lab Theatre, University of Hawai'i-Manoa 956-3836 "Democracy in Islam," readings and discussions of a work in progress Noon, Tuesday East-West Center, Burns Hall 2111 944-7177 Afghan Woman," an excerpted performance and discussion 5 p.m. Tuesday Leeward Community College, Room GT-105 455-0358 All events are free.

The Muslim playwright was back in her native Pakistan for the first time in seven years, steeling her nerves for a performance of her acclaimed monologue, "Afghan Woman."

"I was nervous," she said. "I really didn't know how it would be taken by the audience. But it was totally amazing."

The Islamabad gallery where she performed was filled with men and women, young children and very senior elders. There was a group of Afghan women who, despite not speaking English, the language of Sharif's monologue, were reduced to tears by the sheer emotion of the performance.

Fresh from a three-week run in New York and a hectic tour of Pakistan and the Mainland, Sharif will visit Honolulu this week for a trio of free performances.

She'll perform "Women in Modernity," a collection of monologues (including "Afghan Woman") excerpted from three of her plays today at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.

At noon Tuesday at the East-West Center, she'll read from and discuss "Democracy in Islam," a work in progress. That evening, Sharif will visit Leeward Community College to perform an except from "Afghan Woman" and discuss issues relating to America and Islam.

A respected, if underexposed, figure in the New York theater scene for two decades, Sharif has been getting attention in the wake of the Sept. 11 tragedy.

As Americans grasp for insight into Middle Eastern and South Asian thought and beliefs, Sharif's dramatic plays and monologues have proven valuable in sharing the complexities and contradictions of life in the region.

Sharif, whose family still lives in Islamabad, came to the United States to attend Johns Hopkins University, where she earned a master's degree in public health. It was quickly apparent to Sharif that it was art, not health, that excited her curiosity. And so she embarked on a career of acting — "riches to poverty," she says.

But with her South Asian looks, Sharif found it hard to get meaningful parts. At the suggestion of friend Robert Patrick, author of "Kennedy's Children," she began writing and acting in her own plays.

Sharif has written and produced more than 20 plays since 1983, but it's "Afghan Woman" that has sounded the most resonant chord with critics and audiences. Sharif performs the one-hour play in a traditional burqa, a restrictive head covering that obscures everything but the eyes.

Initially unable to find a burqa in New York, Sharif made do with a home-crafted one, taking theatrical license to widen the eye opening. She wore it for the first time during a dress rehearsal.

"I myself had never worn a burqa," Sharif said. "I was literally afraid. It was quite suffocating. I felt imprisoned. But the moment I wore it, the "Afghan Woman" came to me. It simmered on my skin and went into my body. I really felt for her."

In her play, Sharif has crafted a character striving for liberation from the silence imposed upon her by tradition and Western ignorance.

Sharif follows each performance with a discussion with her audience. The messages she has drawn from these have proved affirming.

"In the U.S., especially before the 11th of September, people here didn't know much about Afghanistan or the history of the Taliban, so that's what they asked about," she said. "They wanted to know.

In Pakistan, "people asked about the 11th of September, and they were very, very sad about the whole situation," she said. "People here think that people in Pakistan hate Americans, but they don't. They love America and American things. I was there during the Daniel Pearl kidnapping, and the people there were so depressed. They don't want these things to happen."