A tale of terror

A CAR explodes in a central city area that could easily be Melbourne.
Terms like “suicide bomber” and “terrorist” flash by on the news and burst into people’s consciousness.
It’s now part of the reality facing society, especially in the light of recent terror-related arrests in ordinary Melbourne suburbs.
How the public reacts is the theme behind powerful play I Call My Bothers, by Melbourne Theatre Company and coming to Geelong Performing Arts Centre on Monday night.
The story centres on Amor, a young Arab man caught up in the confusion and paranoia following the car explosion.
Director Nadja Kostich said the play was about perception, fear and suspicion in the wake of an event cast as a terrorist act.
“This young man looks a certain way and fits a description of the racial profile of a terrorist.
“He carries out some simple, everyday tasks over a period of 24 hours throughout the city, ones that mean he ventures past the point of the explosion.
“This takes him into a place that involves a self-reckoning and an inner-journey that places him under considerable pressure.
“The young man examines himself and his relationships and from this point, he reaches outward. He reaches out to his friend, Shavi, his ‘brother’, and he responds.
Kostich said I Call My Brothers asked the audience to “confront its impulses to divide the world up into ‘us’ and ‘them’”.
“Who are they? Who are we?
“And is our fear a self-fulfilling prophecy?”
The play is part of MTC’s 2015 education productions, having been on a two-week regional school tour as part of the company’s Sharing the Light initiative.