Theater Star Anna Khaja Discusses 'No Word in Guyanese for Me'

Audiences at the Sidewalk Studio Theatre will be the first to see a production of the new play There’s No Word in Guyanese for Me, by Wendy Graf. The show stars Anna Khaja as Hanna, a Muslim girl we follow from her childhood in Guyana to New York City, from an arranged marriage through her coming out as a gay woman. As the only performer, Khaja plays several characters in Hanna’s life.

The Sidewalk Studio Theatre is located on Riverside Drive in Burbank just a few blocks over the official border from Toluca Lake in an area most folks still consider the neighborhood of Toluca Lake, including the Sidewalk Studio Theatre itself.

On Wednesday, Khaja took a break from rehearsal for an interview about the new play, revealing to Patch its themes and appeal for both specifically Muslim audiences and general audiences.

Khaja has worked on stage for 15 years, including shows at the Mark Taper Forum (Stuff Happens), The Cleveland Playhouse (Around the World in 80 Days), and NoHo’s own . She has won Ovation and LA Weekly Awards, and also appeared on film and television. You may have seen her on House or Weeds, or in Yes Man or King of California. Now, audiences get to experience all of Khaja’s craft in There’s No Word in Guyanese for Me, playing Saturday through June 12.

PATCH: What are you still doing to get ready for opening night?

ANNA KHAJA: We’re looking forward to having two previews to work out the kinks and add that final element of the audience. There are so many things you don’t know, can’t possibly answer until you have them there and they give you that information. So that’s what we’re really looking forward to.

PATCH: And this is the first performance ever of No Word in Guyanese for Me, right?

KHAJA: It is. There have been a couple of readings. One was done at the Blank [Theater] Living Room series. One was done at First Stage but this will be the first actual premiere of the play.

PATCH: Have you done a solo play before?

KHAJA: I have. I actually have my own solo show that I wrote called Shaheed: The Dream and Death of Benazir Bhutto. I performed that last spring at the Stephanie Feury Studio Theatre. I was really happy because we were nominated for an Ovation Award for Best Production of the Year. I won the Ovation for Lead Actress.

PATCH: It must be different for each play, but what challenges does this solo play give you?

KHAJA: It’s always different. This one first of all, I have to switch from character to character as fluidly as I possibly can. Also I didn’t write it so I don’t automatically know what the writer’s intention is and I have to really work with Wendy to fulfill her vision of the play.

PATCH: What have your conversations with Wendy been like?

KHAJA: Well, we also have a great director in the mix, Anita Khanzadian, so we’re like this trio of women and we sit around and discuss, sort of develop and figure out how to bring this piece to life. A lot of it is just trial and error. Wendy’s very open to changing or cutting if necessary. Anita and I are always very conscious of how can we make this the most present and involving piece that we can.

PATCH: Is it a heavy play considering the themes it’s dealing with?

KHAJA: Well, there are heavy aspects but I wouldn’t say that the play itself is heavy. Actually it’s full of a lot of hope. It all starts in my character Hanna’s childhood in Guyana where she was very happy. She carries that kind of internal joy and passion with her through her different trials and challenges. She’s not one to give up easily and she is on a journey of seeking a way to live in the world truthfully and joyfully. Ultimately she finds that so I wouldn’t say it’s heavy.

PATCH: It’s got to be entertaining, because you wouldn’t just ask people to come deal with prejudice and sexuality.

KHAJA: Oh no, it’s not by any means a lecture. It’s theater. It’s just one woman’s story. It’s the story of her life and one of the things that runs through her life is the fact that she is trying to reconcile her belief in Allah and her love of her faith with the truth about her sexuality.

PATCH: As it pertains to Hanna, what is your ethnic background?

KHAJA: I am part Pakistani. I’m straight, I’m married.

PATCH: Are there aspects of Hanna’s story that would be particularly special to Muslim audiences?

KHAJA: Oh, very much so. There’s a great respect for the Islamic faith in this play. That was something that was very important to me. I wouldn’t do it if there wasn’t. there are quotes from the Koran and the Hadith. One thing that no matter what Hanna goes through, the only thing in the play that never wavers is her love of her faith and her belief in Allah’s guiding hand in her life. So when she’s questioning her sexuality, when she’s questioning whether or not she should sacrifice a certain aspect of her life, decline who she is, she still never questions her belief in Allah and the fact that he’s with her. That faith was instilled in her at a young age and it’s hers. No one ever takes it away from her. Another thing that Muslim audience in particular I think can relate to, she’s living in New York as a teenager in a pretty traditional conservative Muslim family when 9/11 happens. She has to deal with the way Muslims were treated in New York City right after that happened. Her father’s a cab driver. He almost loses his business. She witnesses the other people at school treating her differently and asking her questions and showing a lot of curiosity, people looking at her differently on the streets, guilt, a sort of feeling of shame, frustration, all that.

PATCH: Would that section of the show go over a little bit differently today, given the recent news of Osama bin Laden’s death?

KHAJA: I was wondering about that myself and I think what I came to is I think right now, the effects of 9/11 are actually resonating within people more strongly. In the aftermath of us getting bin Laden, it’s almost like the mourning process can begin. When you find the perpetrator and he’s punished justly, you can sort of put things to rest. So I think it’s not quite so distant in memory right now in our minds. In that sense, it may have an even more powerful effect on audiences.

PATCH: Is there any authentic Guyanese in the play?

KHAJA: Guyanese is just a dialect of English, so they have some of their own words but really it’s more the accent. It’s kind of a mixture of Indian, meaning East Indian, and Caribbean and British. So she starts out in Guyana with a pretty strong Guyanese accent, then she moves to New York when she’s 10 so she starts to lose her accent then. A lot of native foods are mentioned. There are certain names of different animals that we don’t know about, so there are some different words.

PATCH: You have some amazing credits. What is the craft you bring to a show like this?

KHAJA: In one sense it’s always just starting over completely, coming from a place of not knowing and seeing if you can find the aspects of yourself that are the same as certain aspects of the character and then just bringing those into the light and growing those.

PATCH: What do you get from the Sidewalk Studio Theatre space?

KHAJA: Well, the Sidewalk Studio Theatre is very intimate and that was something that was important to Wendy and Anita, to have an intimate space for the first run of this show because a lot of it is just the character of Hanna speaking directly to the audience and kind of building a relationship with them.

PATCH: Are you used to playing both small houses and big?

KHAJA: Yeah, I’m used to both and the experience is different, very different in each but the core that you’re coming from as a performer is the same. My personal favorite thing to do is to play really small houses.

PATCH: Are you accessible after the show if people want to come see you?

KHAJA: Of course. I’m always around. I love to meet people and hear their thoughts and talk to them and see what their impression of the show was.

PATCH: What spots around Toluca Lake have you discovered as you’ve been working here?

KHAJA: The area is so great, I had no idea. I love Priscilla’s coffee shop. I love Gindi Thai across the street and I’m just so happy that people can come and have a nice dinner at various restaurants, that they’re coming to an area that’s very cute and welcoming and a nice place to hang out.

PATCH: Do you live in Los Angeles?

KHAJA: I’ve lived here for 15 years, Beverly and Fairfax, right by the Farmers Market and the Grove. I’ve lived there since college, UCLA.

PATCH: Have you done other North Hollywood theaters?

KHAJA: Yes, I’ve performed at the NoHo Arts Center twice. I performed at the so long ago. The NoHo Arts Center was Palace of the End, which I won the LA Weekly Award for, for solo performance. That was by Judith Thompson, and then I did Zastrozzi.

PATCH: Having performed all over town, what is special about the audiences in Valley-area theaters?

KHAJA: First of all, I love the area. It really is the best community of theaters in the Los Angeles area. I love that everywhere you go, someone’s working on something. Everyone there is there to see a show or be in the show. Audiences, they certainly seem to love to go to theater. They certainly seem very supportive and very loyal.

PATCH: With a long career in film and theater, what has your life been like as a working actor?

KHAJA: I think I’m really lucky to be a working actor. But at the same time, it’s always great to be on set but at the end of the day, it’s a job. There are hundreds of other people on the set doing their job to try and get a result by the end of the day. You all work together and there’s that feeling of community, but I’ve worked with some really amazing, amazing people and every time I’m on set I learn something new and I’m really grateful for that.

PATCH: What did you learn from No Word in Guyanese for Me?

KHAJA: Oh, wow. I’ve learned first of all so much from my director, Anita Khanzadian, because she’s so seasoned. She really knows her stuff and she knows how to make each different character that I play stand out and listen to each other and speak to each other and flow from one to the next in these sort of natural human responses. From Wendy and the message of the play, I’ve learned that nobody can ever take God from a person. Nobody can ever take religion from a person. No other person can dictate what a religion considers a sin and not a sin. Religion is something that’s constantly evolving and defined by the individual.