In Uncivilized, playwright and performer Ahmad Meree turns a bureaucratic interview into a tense examination of how newcomers are made to justify their presence. Directed by Radwan Taleb, the approximately 60-minute production remains anchored by Meree’s controlled, emotionally committed performance.
Mohammad sits before a camera and responds to questions from an unseen female Voice, performed by Shannon Pitre. A large projection screen hangs upstage, but the purpose of the interview—and of its recording—initially remains unclear. Chris Malkowski’s lighting, combining a bright spotlight with surrounding shadows, establishes an atmosphere of unease before the questioning fully takes shape.
As the interview progresses, the play’s title acquires an ironic force. The work does not portray Mohammad as uncivilized; instead, it directs attention to the institutional tone of the Voice and to the assumptions imposed on newcomers. The production’s strongest moments reveal how routine procedures can become instruments of humiliation.
Taleb’s direction sustains the tension through carefully judged camera movement. Midway through the performance, the camera follows Mohammad backstage, allowing the audience to witness his distress without relying on extensive exposition. Nicole Eun-Ju Bell’s projection design serves both a practical and expressive function: it gives access to this offstage moment and later intensifies the interview’s discomfort through imagery on the rear wall.
Meree brings humour, compassion and frustration to Mohammad. Dressed in black with vivid red accents in his tie and shoes, he uses wit to resist the absurdity of having to explain his existence. Near the end, he turns the camera toward the audience, briefly shifting the scrutiny from the subject to the observers. The gesture is direct but effective, implicating spectators in the dynamics the play has established.
Pitre gives the Voice a firm authority through measured modulation and inflection. At times, her delivery sounds deliberately procedural, even as though she were reading from a prepared script. That detachment reinforces the production’s depiction of a system in which standardized language obscures personal consequences.
The conclusion suggests that Mohammad’s experience is not isolated. As the Voice prepares for the next arrival, the process appears ready to repeat, underscoring the play’s argument that the treatment of newcomers is systemic rather than exceptional.
Uncivilized is a focused, forceful, solo-centred work. Its theatrical devices occasionally state their purpose plainly, but the production maintains emotional credibility and offers a pointed critique of the language and procedures used to exclude. It closes this weekend. Please get to see it as it is an important theatrical experience.
Running time: Approximately 60 minutes, with no intermission.
Performance information: Until October 24 at Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Avenue, Toronto. Tickets: passemuraille.ca/uncivilized or 416-504-7529.
THEATRE PASSE MURAILLE and 7SPICES THEATRE present
Uncivilized by Ahmad Meree
Directed by: Radwan Taleb
Lighting design: Chris Malkowski
Projection design: Nicole Eun-Ju Bell
Sound design and composition: Majd Sukar
Dramaturgy: Ric Knowles
Stage management: Victoria Wang
Performers: Ahmad Meree and Shannon Pitre
