RECOMMENDED
The television sitcom has had a historic role in communicating issues of ethnic prejudice through an easy-to-digest format, like how the “lovable racist” Archie Bunker in “All in the Family” served as an example of the errors in reasoning encountered by closed-minded bigotry. Continuing in this vein is “Neighborhood Watch,” a play in the style of a sitcom by Rehana Lew Mirza and directed by Kaiser Ahmed. It explores what happens when two Muslim men move into a majority-white Virginia suburb, and the prejudice they encounter from both their liberal and conservative neighbors.
The suburban setting of backyards and living rooms, cheesy music preludes before acts and the cast of archetypal characters fit the sitcom formula to a tee. Mo (Harsh Gagoomal) is a handsome Arab man and progressive Muslim who rents a house next door to Paul (Frank Nall), an aggressive liberal whose tongue-tripping attempts to not be racist come off as painfully awkward. Paul’s Gen Z daughter Becca (Jamie Herb) is a lonely, directionless youth with a college degree and no job. Becca and Mo immediately strike up a romantic relationship, but things get complicated when Javed (Omar Bader), Mo’s brother-cousin, fresh off a stint in prison for “electronic terrorism,” seeks refuge in Mo’s new house. This causes Paul’s suspicions to get the better of him—enough to enlist his annoying neighbor Shawn (Victor Holstein) as a private investigator. The situation is a powder keg waiting to go off!
The back and forth between humor and heavy moments are well paced. While Paul tries to relax in his garden—Buhloop!—a barrage of dire news notifications on his tablet whip him back into a frenzy. Shawn’s incompetent sleuthing sees him slinking around like a cartoon villain and tumbling off a rooftop. Herb and Gagoomal as Becca and Mo have fantastic chemistry, and their flirtations are delightfully coquettish. But revelations from Mo’s past threaten the couple’s tentative harmony. On top of that, the introduction of a firearm creates pervasive unease. It’s like watching people walk on eggshells, and waiting for one to inevitably to crack.
Mirza adeptly portrays the paradoxes in each character’s archetype. Besides concern for his daughter, Paul’s other motivation for spying on Mo and Javed is to assuage his own guilt. As a progressive liberal, he knows stereotypes are nonsense but can’t help from being suspicious; his investigation is less about finding evidence against his neighbors and more about redeeming them from the strawman characters he has created in his own imagination. At first, Mo takes delight in messing with his neighbors by playing into their presumptions, but he shows his own bias against Javed and his more traditional Muslim beliefs. Even Shawn, a verbose conservative, winces at the proposition of carrying a gun for his own protection. Beneath a comedic veneer is commentary on how those at opposite ideological poles are more alike than they may realize.
“Neighborhood Watch” is a faithful and hilarious portrayal of the modern U.S. socio-political landscape. Like progressive situational comedies before it, the play reflects the absurdity of living in a polarized world, and uses humor to sweeten bitter lessons about acceptance and tolerance.
Jackalope Theatre’s “Neighborhood Watch” runs through June 28 at Broadway Armory Park, 5917 North Broadway. Tickets are $15-$40, available at jackalopetheatre.org.
