The Stranger's Review of Return to the Garden of Allah

Reviewed by Eric Fredericksen
TROUBLE IN THE GARDEN OF ALLAH

The Garden of Allah began as a novel, then became a movie starring Marlene Dietrich, then a gay cabaret in Seattle, then it was a book about a gay cabaret in Seattle (An Evening at the Garden of Allah), and now it's a cabaret-like play in Seattle about a gay cabaret in Seattle (Return to the Garden of Allah). But in the transition to its latest form, The Garden of Allah also became a protest target.

Open Circle Theater, whose production opened at Re-bar last Friday, received a letter from the Downtown Muslim Association of Seattle dated March 16, asking them to "take steps to change the title of this show immediately," due to "Muslims find[ing] the use of the word 'Allah' in this context to be extremely offensive." The letter, signed by DMAS President Robert R. Akhtar and some 120 others, also asks Open Circle "to refrain from the use of any symbols or contents that [are] significant or sensitive to the religion of Islam in all of your future programmes."

Sorry, but nothing doing on the first part of your request, said Open Circle's artistic director in a letter back to Akhtar's group. The title "directly references the actual cabaret venue... which existed in Seattle in the 1940s and 1950s." A fascinating place, by the way: the first gay-owned cabaret in the country, and a beacon of libertinism in a straitjacketed time. He goes on to say "the producers intend absolutely no disrespect to the religion of Islam."

Oddly, the letterhead for DMAS claims as the group's mission statement, "To promote Islam and the Islamic principles of peace, love, education, compassion, tolerance, and justice." It fails to add that the tolerance part doesn't apply to fags who use Islamic references.

No one answered the phone at the DMAS office, so I couldn't find out if they had any juicy picketing plans, but I'll follow up on any future developments.

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