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Theatre Eddys

Theatre Eddys

San Francisco Bay Area Theater Reviews

A Distinct Society

April 12, 2023 by Eddie Reynolds

A Distinct Society

Kareem Fahmy

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley

James Rana & Carrie Paff

An executive order on January 27, 2017, by a president barely one week in office barred citizens from seven countries – all majority Muslim – from entering the United States.  Protests, legal challenges, and suits followed; but in the meantime, border agencies began reacting and enacting, often changing policies and procedures almost on a whim.  TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, in conjunction with Salt Lake City’s Pioneer Theatre Company, opens a world premiere production of Kareem Fahmy’s A Distinct Society – a monumental new work extremely timely and important in the up-close, sensitive, and yet stark manner it shows how such declarations from on high can affect ordinary people, near and far.  The playwright chooses five people who already are struggling to deal with their own stresses of daily life – job probation, bullying at school, non-ending back pain, worry of a daughter’s health, pressures of med school – but who all must now also experience first-hand the harsh consequences what an order entitled “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States” means for them.

Please continue to Talkin’ Broadway to read my entire review of this MUST-SEE production.

Rating: 5 E, MUST-SEE

A Theatre Eddys Best Bet Production

A Distinct Society continues through April 30, 2023, in world premiere performance by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley (in association with Pioneer Theatre Company) at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro Street, Mountain View, CA.  Tickets are available online at www.theatreworks.org or by calling 877-662-8978.

Please note: All patrons must securely wear masks inside the theatre.

Rating: 5 E, Best Bet Tags: 5 E, world premiere, MUST SEE, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley

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Eddie is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle.

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Musical5 Eworld premiereMUST SEE4 ETheatreWorks Silicon ValleySan Francisco PlayhouseNew Conservatory Theatre CenterPear TheatreBerkeley Repertory Company4.5 EMarin Theatre CompanyAmerican Conservatory TheatreShotgun PlayersPalo Alto PlayersAurora Theatre CompanyThe MarshHillbarn TheatreCity Lights Theater CompanyOregon Shakespeare Festival

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Theatre Eddys reviews performances throughout the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

About Eddie

Theatre Critic for the Greater San Francisco Bay Area, writing 150+ reviews annually for Theatre Eddys and Talkin' Broadway (San Jose/Silicon Valley). Read More

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