American traveler Josh (Sean Dugan), who has come to Iraq to find the girlfriend he believes to be in trouble, is befriended by Hakan (Amir Arison) in the Huntington Theatre Company's World Premiere production of The Cry of the Reed by Sinan Ünel. Photo: T. Charles Erickson.

Cigdem Onat stars as Ayla Okan, an American expatriate who has moved to Turkey and become an influential spiritualist in the Huntington Theatre Company's World Premiere production of The Cry of the Reed by Sinan Ünel. Photo: T. Charles Erickson.

Sevgi (Lisa Birnbaum, l.) and Philip (Darren Pettie, r.) bid their time under the watchful eye of an Iraqi insurgent (Rafi Silver, rear) who watches their every move in the Huntington Theatre Company's World Premiere production of The Cry of the Reed by Sinan Ünel. Photo: T. Charles Erickson.

While detained by Iraqi insurgents, journalist Sevgi Okan (Lisa Birnbaum) is questioned by Tariq (Laith Nakli) in the Huntington Theatre Company's World Premiere production of The Cry of the Reed by Sinan Ünel. Photo: T. Charles Erickson.

Detained in Iraq, American journalist Sevgi (Lisa Birnbaum) is given the chance to make one phone call - to her long-estranged mother - as her colleague Philip watches in the Huntington Theatre Company's World Premiere production of The Cry of the Reed by Sinan Ünel. Photo: T. Charles Erickson.

Fearful of the fate of captured journalist Sevgi, her boyfriend Josh (Sean Dugan) and her mother Ayla (Cigdem Onat), plot to save her in the Huntington Theatre Company's World Premiere production of The Cry of the Reed by Sinan Ünel. Photo: T. Charles Erickson.

Philip (Darren Pettie), a Canadian journalist who has been detained by Iraqi insurgents, dreams of freedom in the Huntington Theatre Company's World Premiere production of The Cry of the Reed by Sinan Ünel. Photo: T. Charles Erickson.

Cigdem Onat (l.) and Lisa Birnbaum star as an expatriate mother and her Turkish-American daughter caught up in a Middle East conflict in the Huntington Theatre Company's World Premiere production of The Cry of the Reed by Sinan Ünel. Photo: Eric Antoniou.

Cigdem Onat (l.) and Lisa Birnbaum star as an expatriate mother and her Turkish-American daughter caught up in a Middle East conflict in the Huntington Theatre Company's World Premiere production of The Cry of the Reed by Sinan Ünel. Photo: Eric Antoniou.

The Cry of the Reed by Sinan Ünel