Egyptian Song at Kean University

With the Arab Spring in the air and everywhere on the news, the timing could not be better for Egyptian Song, the spare, eloquent play that opened this year’s season at Premiere Stages. Never mind that the setting is the 1920’s, the debate remains the same today.

James Christy’s script has two actors who play all the parts, including the central characters, a brother and sister – twins – in a small village in Egypt. The transitions are handled beautifully by Miriam Habib and Govind Kumar, all through secondary expressions – changes in intonation, accent, posture, a limp – you never wonder who’s speaking – mother, daughter, uncle, father, shop-worker, friend, friend’s mother. Because the story is told with so few elements, the entire production takes on a poetic cast.

And then there’s the song – or rather, the gift of song -- which the sister possesses.

There is virtually no singing in this production, but song is central to the action.

The sister’s gift is something exceptional, something stirring, with the power to move the spirit beyond the usual confines. It is the voice of yearning – appealing, magnetic, inspiring – with the power to lead to unexpected outcomes.

Premiere Stages follows this staged reading with the opening of its full-fledged production of Follow Me to Nellie’s July 14 – 31 at Kean University in Union, New Jersey.