Making choices is theme for Concrete Theatre production

Change can be disconcerting especially when someone undergoes a personal transformation that shifts his or her outlook on life.

Teenagers are not exempt from the anxiety of change in Concrete Theatre’s remount of Under Cover slated for public viewing on April 29 and 30 at La CitĂ© Francophone.

At first glance Ella is your typical Grade 12 student. Culturally she is East Indian but practices the Muslim faith.

Like any teenager in her circle, she listens to western music, enjoys the latest fashion and munches on junk food. But after a visit with her extended family in New Delhi, Ella returns to Canada wearing a hijab.

To her close friends – Kelly, Sid and Drew – the alteration is shocking in varying degrees.

For westerners, the traditional headscarf of choice for young Muslim women past the age of puberty is seen as a symbol of subjugation.

For Ella, the hijab is part of her deep commitment and pride in her faith. It’s a way of making her faith visible.

“Ella has always wanted to be a devout Muslim. What galvanizes her is the trip and in particular when she meets her grandmother,” said playwright Mark Haroun, a Bellerose High School alumnus.

As an award-winning writer for CBC TV’s runaway hit Heartland, Concrete Theatre commissioned Haroun to write the original script in 2010.

Distinctive in subject matter and presentation, it won the 2011 Sterling Award for Outstanding Production for Young Audiences.

Director Mieko Ouchi approached Haroun because of his ability to write about topical hot-potato issues with a degree of sensitivity. In Under Cover, Haroun examines many themes including religious heritage, culture, family, tolerance, friendship and acceptance.

“Mieko wanted a play to deal with hijabs and the misunderstandings women who wear the hijab face,” Haroun explained. “I was excited by the idea. It was such rich territory.”

In the original, Ella’s ethnicity was Lebanese. In this remount the ethnicity was changed to East Indian, more reflective of St. Albert actor Kristen Padaya’s cultural heritage.

The other three actors are Morgan Yamada as Kelly, Ella’s close girlfriend; Liam Cody in the role of Sid, a good buddy; and Oscar Derkx as Drew, a young man attracted to Ella.

“The crisis in the play is important and I hope what we’ve done here is present it in an entertaining way. There’s humour in the play as well as bringing up important issues.”