WESTON, Vt. – Each summer season at the Weston Theater Company (WTC) offers a new catalogue of diverse and surprising stories presented at Walker Farm, a modern theater venue located in the rural Vermont town of just 500 residents.
Over the course of its 89 seasons, WTC has gifted audiences with lively musicals that delight and captivate; classic plays from bygone eras brought to life through excellent performances, direction, set, and wardrobe design; and contemplative stage productions that give us something to ponder, or introduce us to new worlds and perceptions.
The current production on stage at Walker Farm falls into that third category. “A Distinct Society” is a newly published play written and directed by Kareem Fahmy. The play tells the fictional tale of an Iranian father and daughter who arrange to meet up across international lines at the very real and unique Haskell Free Library and Opera House, built in the early 1900s directly on the U.S.-Canada border.
The Haskell Library straddles the boundary separating the towns of Derby Line, Vt., and Stanstead, Quebec. A strip of black tape runs across the library floor through the middle of the room, delineating the two countries.
Erected as a symbol of the neighborly relationship between Canadians and Vermonters, and the interactive community that exists on both sides of the border, the library has become a symbol of cooperation and camaraderie, and a destination for visitors from the United States, Canada, and all over the world.
The story takes place during President Trump’s “Muslim ban” – a suspension of travel to the U.S. from seven predominantly Muslim countries enacted by executive order in 2017. One of the countries on the list, Iran, is the country that Peyman Gilani, the father character, calls home.
Peyman’s daughter Shirin Gilani came to the U.S. on an F-1 student visa to attend medical school, but things have gotten more complicated for Shirin since then. The plot thickens, ensnaring within it the Quebecois librarian Manon, U.S. border patrol agent Bruce, and a lonely young Irish Canadian boy called Declan, before culminating in an outburst of fear and confusion, an unexpected tragedy, and some fateful misunderstandings.
Fahmy, a New York-based director, playwright, and screenwriter originally from Sherbrooke, Quebec, told WTC, “Like the Haskell Library, I have one foot in America and one in Canada.”
“I was born and raised just on the other side of the Vermont border, in southern Quebec,” said Fahmy, “and I wrote this story to celebrate the beautiful and historic relationship between the U.S. and Canada, symbolized by the Haskell Free Library and Opera House.”
“It saddens me,” Fahmy stated. “A building that was constructed specifically as a symbol of friendship between the U.S. and Canada has been turned into a political football. My goal is to center the human stories that result from all this political division.”
The play explores themes of family, love, trust, loyalty, and how shared borders and politics can both divide and unite us. Barzin Akhavan and Fatemeh Mehraban bring a sincere, shared chemistry to their respective roles as father and daughter.
With a talented cast of just five performers, that also includes Jason Bowen as Bruce, Daniel Clark as Declan, and Polly Lee as Manon Desjardins, the Haskell’s librarian, Fahmy’s story thoughtfully captures politically charged but intensely private moments taking place during a difficult time.
The final performance will be Sunday, Aug. 31, and a postshow talk is scheduled following the production. For more information and tickets, visit www.westontheater.org.