(photo by Gabrielle Kellock)
The Choices of Culture
by Jessica Yen
Fatima is just like any other Canadian teenage girl: she likes hanging out with her friends, gets nervous around boys and rebels against her parents. The difference is, Fatima wears a hijab and sometimes that can draw some unwanted attention and misperceptions from her peers. When anti-Muslim graffiti shows up at her school, Fatima’s parents transfer her to a different one. While navigating the new territory of her school, Fatima meets Jorah, a boy with a bad reputation. An unlikely attraction brings these opposites together, testing each of their personal boundaries. Jabber is a polished piece of theatre for young audiences that does an excellent job of creating conversation and asking difficult questions about cross-cultural respect and the choices we make to stay true to ourselves.
