Silas Carson
A Conversation with Silas Carson
Dr. Raghib Mutar

Q: Who do you play in THE GRID?
A: I play Dr. Mutar. He's a really interesting character. He's spent his life saving lives and trying to make people's lives better, but he lives in a world in which drugs and money are denied to him. He, and what he is trying to do, suffers, and he develops a deep-seeded anger. A former acquaintance who now operates a terrorist cell, Muhammad, works on this anger. I think the writing for this role is very brave. The piece shows how and why this character, who you have deep sympathies for throughout the program, becomes essentially one of the bad guys. It really tests your black-and-white view of the world.

Q: What do you think audiences will take away after seeing THE GRID?
A: I hope it makes people sympathetic to the plight of those in the world who are living under constant indiscriminate bombings and constant lack of funding. I also hope it reaches others to show there is another way to stop the cycle of violence. I think the ways in which we do that is to make sure the have-nots in this world start to have and to understand culturally and historically the conditions under which some of these people live. We're deeply ignorant in our part of the world of what goes on in the Middle East.