The Fear of Breathing: Stories from the Syrian Revolution is a powerful, appealing and, at the same time, controversial play that provides insights into the real life of Syrian people who have suffered from the war. The play has been written by a theatre director, Zoe Lafferty, and two award-winning journalists, Ruth Sherlock and Paul Wood. The journalists travelled to Syria and had interviews with different people living there. Importantly, exact words of people are used in the play, which makes it really appealing and striking.
The play consists of encounters of fifteen people who come from different backgrounds. They represent many groups within the Syrian society. Thus, there are activists and coordinators from different cities of Syria. There is a soldier and a radio DJ, a hotel owner and an accountant, a photographer and a tobacco smuggler, leaders from the Free Syrian Army, a doctor, a man wrapping bodies and a 16 year-old girl. There are males and females; there are Muslims (of different denominations) and Christians. The creators of the play revealed diversity of the Syrian society and its unity in their desire to win their freedom.
It is important to pay special attention to the setting. The viewers can see a dark room with graffiti and faces of Bashar al-Assad and Hafez all over the wall. There is a TV set that performs a role of an author as the TV provides additional information to facilitate the dialogue and provide more vivid details (videos) from Syrian people’s lives. One of important episodes is concerned with the interview of Assad where he tell millions of lies and pretends he is a democratic leader. This interview is a great contrast to all the stories told during the play. It is clear that the atmosphere is very specific.
Notably, the TV can also be regarded as a symbol of the technology and its impact on people’s fight. Such social media as Facebook enables people to unite as it is forbidden to get together (more than seven people), so those who share similar views can form communities. Skype has become an option for Syrians as they are now able to meet with the help of technology. Of course, Skype and Facebook are not weapons but they are tools to communicate and spread the word, which is as important as having guns.
It is necessary to stress that these voices are very loud and appealing. This is achieved through the stories and the language used. At the beginning of the play, it is stipulated that the stories and characters (except their names) are true and their “words [are] spoken verbatim” (Lafferty, Wood and Sherlock 25). The characters mainly introduce themselves and tell their stories or provide their views on some ideas.
There is an open dialogue with the audience. The characters address the audience. They often answer questions that are in the air and it seems that someone from the audience asks while the actors answer the questions. This creates a really special atmosphere in the audience. It seems that the viewers and the main characters are interlocutors who are, actually, in Syria talking with Syrian people. The dialogue is very sincere and appealing.
Thus, the hotel owner tells about himself and it is clear that he is just any other person in the audience. He lives in Syria and his desires are similar to desires of any person in the world. He wants to live in a country where he can do business and live in peace with his neighbours. He thinks that good people do good things and they can make the world better. Notably, he is Christian and this character shows that Syria is a very diverse society. He is similar to a young female who works as a radio DJ. The young woman also thinks that only good people and good deeds will really change the world. The young woman understands that diversity is good and Syrians can develop a strong society where people are acquainted with greatest achievements of humanity and their own culture and history.
Apart from these characters who focus on positive things, there are characters that talk about violence and despair. One of the most striking episodes that contribute greatly to creating controversy is the account of the 16-year-old girl who tells about the horrible events that took place in her own family. The girl tells about the day when all men from her family (older than 8) were taken to the street and beaten violently. Women were trying to hold their men but the torturers did not pay any attention to their mourning and cries. This short but bright (or rather pitch dark) episode reveals the horrible side of the life in Syria. It is clear that people have to exist in a constant fear of being arrested, tortured and killed with no reason at all. At the end, of the play, a character addresses the audience making all the viewers understand that Syria cannot be left alone and something should be done to help Syrians live in a free country.
In conclusion, it is possible to note that the play is a call to think and to act. This is a mosaic of stories of ordinary people who are forced to live in the middle of the horrible war.
Works Cited
Lafferty, Zoe, Paul Wood, and Ruth Sherlock. The Fear of Breathing: Stories from the Syrian Revolution. London: Oberon Books, 2012. Print.