The University of Massachusetts Theatre Department’s production of House of Wives has come under fire from Muslim student groups on campus.

The Arab Students Club has released a document entitled “Polygamy Revisited,” in which it claims the play “creates a false picture of the lives of the majority of Muslim women.”

Director Lucinda Kidder agrees.

“The play does not create an accurately portray Islamic life,” she said. “Its not supposed to. The play is an allegory.”

Rana Al-Jammal, a graduate student and member of the Muslim Students Association and the ASC, explained the Islamic community’s position.

“My membership is outraged. A lot of our members are upset and appalled at the portrayal of Muslim identity in the play,” Al-Jammal said.

“We protest the choice of the play, especially at a University that claims to embrace diversity stereotyping and portraying stereotypes and misinformation.”

While she personally hasn’t seen the play, Al-Jammal says that the advertisements and reading the script was enough to decide.

Jasmine Khamis, a member of the Muslim Students Association at Mt. Holyoke College, wrote a critique of the play. In it, she states the play “portrayed women as less than second class citizens, subordinate and abject to the domineering will of the patriarch in society.”

Others are troubled that the play is running during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

The Theatre Department says that the scheduling of the play is not intentional.

“That was pure coincidence, dictated by the way we have to schedule plays in the theatres to fit,” said Anne-Maria Goossens, Publicity Director for the Theatre Department. “It is not intended as a slap.”

“We knew when we started looking into this play that it was going to raise questions,” Goossens said.

The department sponsored a lecture and workshop series to discuss those concerns.

“When we first asked permission to do this play, the author, Fatimah Gallaire, was very aware that her work would be seen as anti- Islam,” said dramaturg Thomas Shread. He added that the discussions were designed to circumvent that fear.

Al-Jammal charges that the discussions were held to appease the Islamic community.

“She [Kidder] used the meetings to justify what she did,” Al-Jammal said.

The producers deny that the play is anti-Islamic.
“I would have to say that the play is an allegory. It is about the evolution, the strength and solidarity of women,” Kidder said. “It is not intended to be true to Arab culture.”

Carolyn Shread, one of the translators of the play, agrees.

“It is not realistic. It is not intended to be realistic,” she said. “It’s disappointing. To talk about stereotypes gets tedious.”

“We did send a script,” Thomas said. “Whenever I went down to the Muslim Student Association’s office they were closed.”

“It’s a celebration of women. It is not about polygamy, it’s not about Islam. Polygamy is not exclusive to Islam and it is not the rule in Islam,” he added. “Quite frankly, these protests are quite insulting after all the work we put it into to make sure that interested parties had a say.”