Paradise

by Laura Maria Censabella, Medalion Rahimi (Narrator), Jeff Marlow (Narrator)

Yasmeen Al-Hamadi is a Muslim, Yemeni-American senior at a struggling inner-city Bronx high school. Dr. Guy Royston is her disaffected science teacher, a former Evangelical with a mysterious past. An unlikely research team, together they embark on a neurological study, leading to stormy conflicts over love, faith and culture. L.A. Theatre Works edition.

Genres: Audiobook, Young Adult, Plays, Religion, Fiction, Contemporary, Cultural

2 pages, Audiobook

First published January 18, 2022

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I appreciate the general concept of the play, the broad stereotypes of both Yasmeen and Dr. Royston are incredibly cringeworthy. I hope that the film adaptation does a much better job of portraying the Muslim experience of a first generation immigrant community rather than reducing people down to flat caricatures.

Dr. Royston comes off as a narrow minded atheist who has pre conceived notions of Islam due to his conservative Christian upbringing, a tired trope. Islamophobia and religious micro aggressions are perpetuated by a wide range of identities and it would have been far more interesting to see a character, that is more than another trope on the page, learn and grow from engaging with a Muslim, hijabi, first-generation immigrant.

I also really dislike how Dr. Royston accepts the incredibly problematic norms of the academic and scientific communities to advance his own self interest. He only adjusts the norms for an incredible contribution to the experiment by Yasmeen without any consideration about why these are harmful to other young scientists who are toiling behind the scenes without any recognition for years of their academic and scientific careers.

This play could be so much stronger in the hands of a writer who has a similar lived experience to Yasmeen rather than from an Americanized, pseudo liberal, viewpoint.

One star for the concept and one star for the voice actors who did a great job with the less than stellar content.

[Mary Havens · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh.....it was o.k.
I just really disliked the "professor". I guess Censabella was portraying real struggles for new scientists but I felt that the professor was just so ignorant and stubborn in accepting Yasmin's culture. Why criticize it over and over again? It just seemed like the antithesis of what a teacher would try to do. I get that he had some bad things happen in his past, largely by his own doing, but why be miserable your entire life and then take it out on the one bright spot?
I really look forward to L.A. Theatre Works contribution to the Sync Audiobooks program and, if nothing else, this was 90 minutes long. I didn't understand why they made the choice of having constant background talking throughout the entire play. The high school bells, chatter in the hallway, and music were great touches but my recording had constant talking. It almost sounded like this was recorded next to another audio book recording in the studio or something similar. It definitely was not live with an audience like other plays I've heard. It was odd, to say the least.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm typically not a fan of listening to plays or the LA Theater Works presentations: I find them too dramatic without the necessary visual. Full cast performances rarely work for me. This one, though, only has two characters and didn't seem so reliant on the physical interpretation of the script, so it worked for me.

I liked the complexity of this play, and I'd like to see it when it comes out as a movie (I think this is in the works?). There is an interesting interplay among faith, culture, and science here, and both characters have a lot to learn from the other. At first, I thought it was going to be relatively simplistic, but, given how short it is, it has a surprising amount of thoughtful consideration of issues.

[michele · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was quite the interesting experience. It's not a book but a play. I listened to the "audiobook" read by two actors, complete with background noise and school bells. The concepts talked about were important but touched on so briefly that there really wasn't much substance. I also found myself very frustrated with how emotional both voice actors were at times as the situations were ones that escalated in, what I felt, were unrealistic ways. I also felt that some of the conversations the student and teacher were, frankly, inappropriate for the student teacher relationship. I don't think this is the best story to listen to as an audiobook but might be better watching on the stage, what it was originally intended for.

[Blodeuedd Finland · Rating 2 out of 5]

Obviously a audiobook like this is not for me. So many sounds! It is based on a play so they brought out all the stops, sounds and voices. And being used to just one voice most of the time and no special effects, well it was a bit much.

As a play it works well, I could see the play before me. Listening is different since it is so obvi a play in how it was built. And the end just came and I was all...more?

But it was short and I wanted a short one.

The book is mostly two people talking, the end.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is really short. It was really good though. I was a little nervous about the teacher being creepy with this young lady, but that never came to be. Thank goodness. It was interesting to see this fight within this young woman. Between how much does she hold to the family and cultural values while living in the western world? That doesn't harbor those same cultural values. And that is a tough thing. It ended a little abrupt which was rough on me. But I guess you look at it and it does wrap up but a little too abruptly in my opinion

[Toni FGMAMTC · Rating 2 out of 5]

Idk how I feel about this one. I appreciate that they were trying to talk out their differences and discuss science but it seemed weird like not student teacher conversations sometimes. Maybe the teacher wasn't appropriate in how he handled things to do with the student's life. And he especially seemed weird about when it got time to submit their work or whatever. I didn't hate this story but it wasn't really for me.

[Jenny Webb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm reviewing the LA Theatreworks performed recording. Overall the themes here--gender, multiculturalism in America, science and religion, intergenerational relationships, trauma--are interesting and worth exploring, and the play itself has a lot of room to emphasize/develop different readings.

Book pairings: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (fiction), Rooted: Life at the Crossroads of Science, Nature, and Spirit by Lyanda Lynn Haupt (memoir/essay)

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Paradise is the story of Yasmeen (Muslim high school immigrant) and Dr. Royston (American atheist professor). There's a lot of push-pull as they develop a working relationship over school projects. I physically cringed repeatedly at the wildly inappropriate topics the teacher was willing to discuss with Yasmeen. Sometimes he even brought them up. Then the project that they embark on together is handled with very little professionalism. Overall the book contained more drama than plot.

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This audio play seemed like a constant argument between a high school girl and her high school science teacher. The value of this story is the portrayal of the Islam religion as it is practiced by many students in the United States and the misconceptions that the white adults teaching them hold. I also enjoyed the interview of the author at the end.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was interesting. I enjoy the LATW productions. I liked the discussions between the characters and the way they each helped the other grow. I liked the conversations about science and religion, faith and reason. I felt a little let down by the ending - I actually didn't realize it was over. I'm not sure how else I would have wanted it to end, but it felt a little ... incomplete I guess.

[Maya]

Bonus Borrow from the library. DNF even though it was a short read.

I liked the premise, but found the acting jarring and over the top. I don't love audiobooks but listen to them as a gap for when I have exhausted my library stack. I might have been okay with reading this as a book (hard to say), but as an aural piece, it was a no-go for me.

[Jay French · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the complexity of this play. The two characters showed often extreme differences in faith, religion, and culture, age and life goals, and understanding of love. I found it interesting how the authors mixed these together in a story revolving around scientific research, in a high school. I found the ending unexpected and bittersweet.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is drawn with broad strokes, but, at least for me a woman scientist who is the child of immigrants, though not Yemini or Muslim, it captures some of the ideas, and more importantly the feelings, about the tension between "eastern" and "western"; culture and science; community and individualism.

[Pinky · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young Muslim student wants to earn a scholarship to Columbia University after falling in love with science. Examines science, loyalty, love, culture and religion. Part of the Relativity series of science-based plays.

[Myra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened via SYNC audio for teens.

Of the ones of these I've listened to, this is one of the better ones. Yes, both characters are very stereotypical, but you see growth from both of them during the play. And yes, they are both a bit over the top. But I found it interesting and a fun listen.

[Connie Scharre · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful! This author taught this reader two things. 1. That if you make a mistake, you can never pick yourself up and try again, and 2. That if you want something, go out and get it even if you run over people on the way.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Maggie Woodcome · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick and interesting. Held my attention. Ending was a little flat.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

At times a bit over dramatic, but a really good performance.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very solid play

[Shaeley Santiago · Rating 4 out of 5]

Play about a high school student whose science teacher inspires her to want to study science in college.

[julietaaa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Y pensar que tengo que escribir un paper sobre esta obra...

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I downloaded this beacuase it was a pretty quick read.  I like listening to the LATW productions.  The premise of this play was interesting and fairly unique.  However, it wawsn't my favourite. There was fairly good character growth over it, but I felt disconnected from the overall story.  It probably would have been better if I had seen it on stage.

[Susy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars
Very interestingly done, definitely makes you think and reflect.

Characters 8
Atmosphere 8
Writing Style 7
Story 8
Pace 8
Setup 8
Enjoyment/Engrossment 8
Narration 8