Language Barriers

Ways to get ostracized from the Junior League of Baghdad: (1) Wear an abaya made by Z. Cavaricci, (2) table-dance at the annual fundraising dinner, or (3) get a job as an interpreter for the American military. Not sure if anyone has done the first two, but plenty of Iraqis...

By P. Scott Cunningham

August 14, 2008

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Ways to get ostracized from the Junior League of Baghdad: (1) Wear an abaya made by Z. Cavaricci, (2) table-dance at the annual fundraising dinner, or (3) get a job as an interpreter for the American military. Not sure if anyone has done the first two, but plenty of Iraqis have risked their lives serving as translators for Operation Freedom. Journalist George Packer told some of their heart-wrenching stories in a much-lauded article for The New Yorker in 2007, and he's since adapted the material into a 2008 Lucille Lortel Award-winning play, appearing Saturday (and through September 14) at GableStage.

Betrayed tracks the fortunes of three young Iraqi interpreters as they negotiate complex relationships with their American supervisor and their fellow countrymen in an attempt to improve their homeland. Bloomberg News said of the play: "Every American should see it at least once; if involved in government, at least twice." Or if voting for John McCain, three times. The show begins at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $37.50 ($42.50 Friday and Saturday), but parking is free in the lot west of the hotel.
Sat., Aug. 16, 2008

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