Friday, September 14, Rohina Malik, Susan Stone, and Kim Schultz, aided by musician Alejandro Castellano, performed Keeping Faith: Sisters of Story, a perfect play for turbulent times.
Rohina Malik last came to Choate a few years ago to perform her one-woman show, Unveiled. Her performance captivated a packed audience. Choate was therefore thrilled to bring her back with her next project — and this time with company. Malik brought three spectacular people with her, and they held a successful show in the Gelb Theatre. Arts Director Ms. Kalya Yannatos, who helped bring this show to Choate, said, “This is the story of three sisters: one Muslim, one Jewish, and one Catholic. They share their stories that reveal subtle differences and an awful lot of connection. This was an important piece: to highlight the uniqueness of the individual, and, in this case, faith, but more importantly, the commonalities.” Malik talked about why she chose this as her next project: “I contacted these women and responded to hate with love. I wanted to change minds and show our similarities. I’m on a mission to break stereotypes.”
The play was a collection of beautiful stories told from three similar yet unique perspectives. Not all the stories were deeply rooted in faith, however. Kim Schultz, one of the actors, told stories about her doubts on religion and on how she spent time questioning her beliefs. Susan Stone, another actor, spoke of old Jewish stories that all ended with profound lessons. Rohina Malik told beautiful anecdotes about her own journey regarding faith, and explained how she never forgets her roots. The play ended with one of, if not the most powerful story of the night. It was about a Muslim woman on 9/11 who confronted an angry and confused American. The latter had just hit another Muslim woman. Malik spoke of how she told the man that this small hateful group was not representative of Islam. How murder is haram, or forbidden by Islamic law, and that Islam actually translates to ‘peace’. The entire audience was moved by the power of this scene.
After watching the show, Abby Lu ’22, a student in the audience, said, “While religion can divide, it is even stronger when it stitches people together. This play did a great job at showing that.”
Keeping Faith: Sisters of Story moved the community by showing us how similar we all are, even when we think we are so different.
