By Jackie Demaline
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Strong objections from some members of Greater Cincinnati's Muslim community, including calls to schools and Cincinnati's Human Relations Commission, have resulted in Playhouse in the Park suspending its plans for a high school tour of Paradise.

The 50-minute drama by Glyn O'Malley, commissioned by the Playhouse, won the 2002 Lazarus New Play Prize for Young Audiences. It focuses on two adolescent girls, one Palestinian, one Jewish-American, living in the West Bank and was inspired by an actual event. The theme is young people living in war zones.

Sycamore High School parent Majed Dabdoub requested a hearing before the Human Relations Commission earlier this month. His complaints to the commission were that Paradise "is not appropriate, not educational ... has a narrow political agenda and is racist in nature." He went on to say that he feared for the lives of his daughters (enrolled at Sycamore) and that having a school tour would be "a disaster."

Only Sycamore High School had canceled performances to date, but Principal Dr. Keith Kelly later decided to review the script before making a final decision.

In the meantime, in a letter to the commission, Playhouse producing artistic director Ed Stern announced plans to suspend Paradise, which would have started rehearsals in February.

Human Relations Commission chairman Arthur Shriberg said that a response was sent to Mr. Dabdoub and the Playhouse explaining that "We are not in the business of censorship."

Mr. Shriberg added that he expects "vigorous reaction" would have continued from schools that had been contacted by members of the Muslim community.

The decision to pull the tour when clouds were forming drew a philosophical response from Mr. Stern: "We decided there was going to be a deluge, and what's the point of waiting when it seems like the dike isn't going to hold?"

He also said: "We try to address concerns of young people today - we've done plays on divorcing parents, bullying at school. Last year we did Fires in the Mirror (about an explosive racial event in Brooklyn). The topic (in Paradise) is that perhaps peace is better than war."

E-mail jdemaline@enquirer.com