The Syrian civil war informs the fourth of five entries into this year’s Pipeline Festival. Over five consecutive weeks, the WP Theater presents new works in varying stages of development. Power Strip was written by Sylvia Khoury. This piece was performed as a reading. The producer noted that the work continues to evolve and the cast had been handed new pages up until 30 minutes before this performance.
Power Strip is set in a refugee camp in Greece in 2015. Yasmin’s place in the center is located by a power strip on the floor. The play opens with Yasmin collecting money from a man. She has turned to prostitution because she needs money. Life is hard and she and other family members are trying to escape to Germany. She meets a newcomer, Abdullah, who is looking to use the power strip to plug in his electric shaver. Yasmin’s struggles come to life over this one hour play. Struggles in relationships, in trying to preserve her dignity, in survival and in desperately hoping for escape and a life with her fiancé.
May Calamawy is a fine Yasmin, full of bravado and despair. A young woman trapped in a world and a society where #metoo has no relevance. This refugee camp is isolated. In one interesting moment, there is a conversation about whether they would even know if war finally ended the world. How would they find out? The bread would no longer arrive. Power Strip attempts to break the overwhelmingly large Syrian refugee crisis down into an intimate, heartbreaking yet hopeful story. A nice draft of a play about a very difficult subject, focusing particularly on the plight of young women. Eight years have now passed and sadly this humanitarian crisis remains tragic.