Grahamstown - Take that s*** off your head. Towel head. Sweetie, it’s not safe to wear that right now. Go back to your country, terrorist.
These are some of the shocking retorts that hijab-wearing (veil) Muslim women in America have had to endure since the terror attacks in New York on September 11, 2001, when two planes were flown into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers.
Despite being a weighty topic, this bigotry, racism and Islamophobia is dealt with in a surprisingly light-hearted manner in the one-man show Unveiled at the National Arts Festival.
Written by Rohina Malik and performed by Gulshan Mia, the performance gives vignettes of the experiences of five different Muslim women after the attack.
The props are basic, and the change from one character to the next is signified by a change of hijab and accent.
Each character at some point also discusses their custom of serving a different form of tea – perhaps to drive home the warmth and hospitality of Islamic culture.
In the first skit, a Pakistani-immigrant fashion designer relates how she can’t bring herself to design wedding dresses any more after being verbally attacked by an American man outside a wedding venue.
“Take that s*** off your head. Go back to Afghanistan,” the man told her in front of her two young children, almost physically attacking her.
Malik said that this particular story was based on what had happened to her at a friend’s wedding.
“The incident almost turned to violence and felt like one of the worst days of my life.
"It’s interesting how that painful day became the seed that would later become Unveiled.
"Art can sometimes be inspired by the things that are ugly and scare us,” Malik said.
In the second skit, a lawyer of Moroccan descent, Noor, tells a client of the brutal attack on her and her new American husband, who had converted to Islam before meeting her.
She was raped during the attack and her husband, who was stabbed several times, died from the injuries inflicted during the hate crime.
Another story details how a pregnant African-American convert, Inez, was treated in her town moments after the attacks took place.
“We’ve got to bomb those Arabs back into the Stone Ages,” said the owner of her local store as he watched footage of the attack on television. At the same time, another man made a slitting-throat motion at her.
Inez eventually removed her hijab after an American woman told her it was not safe to be seen wearing it.
“I felt weak, like a coward. In one day, it felt like our rights as Americans were taken from us by other Americans. I shouldn’t have had to do that in this country.”
Malik said the message of Unveiled was simple.
“Get to know me. If you get to know someone, it becomes very difficult to hate them.”
She remembered the reaction from one American man after seeing her show in the US.
“He asked to speak to me and told me he was from a small town. He told me that he hated Muslims and thought women wore the veil to celebrate 9/11.
"I will never forget the tears streaming down his face as he looked at me and said, ‘I’m sorry’. It was one of the most powerful moments in my life.”
The show no doubt touched its Grahamstown audience, too, as it received a standing ovation.