Wrda Hussain reviews RAGHS at the Midtown International Theatre Festival

Pati Amorosos’ production of Raghs depict a 16-year-old Iranian girl named Serina (Sohailla Mahjour) and her desperation in being with an older Iranian man. The solo-act offered the concept of resentment. Throughout the play, we see Serina’s fixation on her cousin and wanting love from him, wanting a relationship with him. We see all that she loses, giving us an insight on the lifestyle of an Iranian women from a devout home. The play also does a fine job at stressing the cultural and religious differences. Raghs gives us a dose of relatable reality.

Sohailla Mahjour’s tour de force playing multiple roles including her father, best friend, lover and her mother gave us a glimpse into her abundant talent. Each role has a different way about them and it’s easy to differentiate between all of the roles which ultimately helped the flow of the storyline greatly. The costumes were very basic and simple, but completely effective – especially her use of scarf. Throughout the play she was able to transform her scarf to portray a book bag, a head scarf, a blanket and much more. Well-written dialogue changed with each character – as well as dialects – with amazing precision. She was nimbly able to switch roles throughout the play to represent each figure in her life.

The Workshop Theater unfortunately provided some obstacles in terms of acoustics and space, which was well-conquered by the MITF staff.

Didn’t matter when you are attending a play this good.