Iranian Theater Festival: Bootleg Islam

Negin Farsad has a lot of metaphors for Iran, but the “bootleg” is not one of them. That stuff is for real. Indeed, in a country she likens to America under prohibition, a dapper gent like her uncle has only one use for his bathtub. She certainly appreciated it during the return trip to Iran that inspired her one-person show Bootleg Islam, which is currently running at the Brick Theater as part of the Iranian Theater Festival.

Farsad has seen a fair amount of the world. Her cousin has pretty much seen her neighborhood. When her halfway-kinda arranged wedding brings Farsad back to Tehran, she cannot help comparing her life to her betrothed cousin. She is also a bit embarrassed by her makeshift chador. Fortunately, she has another cousin, let’s call him “elegant,” who can help her out. Surely, her uncle’s special reserves were a life saver as well.

Loving the people, but hating their regime, Farsad is not shy about tweaking the Revolutionary government. Clearly, finding herself face-to-face with a fundamentalist extremist in the late Ayatollah Khomeini’s mosque was also quite instructive in a very scary way. Still, she never makes cracks at the expense of her cousin’s more traditional faith and lifestyle.

In fact, Farsad has a good ear for material, finding a number of laughs in a country that hardly encourages that sort of thing. However, the piece might work better in spots if she slowed down a bit for a more laconic deadpan approach, rather than her consistently energetic rat-a-tat-tat delivery. Of course, considering the festival’s packed schedule, the organizers are probably encouraging her to keep it as snappy as possible.

Even though her family was not directly involved in the 2009 demonstrations (a fact that did not prevent the government from temporarily imprisoning some of them) the “Green” almost-Revolution plays an important role in Farsad’s work. Throughout the performance she offers a number of spot-on analogies and brings it all full circle in a way that is surprisingly touching. It is unquestionably a show for adults though, but the bounteous penis jokes are a timely reminder that freedom is absolutely worth fighting for. One of the funnier and more endearing calls for regime change (and quite welcome as a result), Bootleg runs again this Friday (3/25) as the Iranian Theater Festival continues at the Brick, conveniently located for City residents near the Lorimar L station.

Iranian Theater Fest: Ka

The more repressive the regime, the more guardedly artists shroud their allegories. The fact that Siavash Pakrah wrote Ka in the wake of Iran’s “Green” democracy protests is surely significant, especially considering the playwright has been imprisoned by the Islamist regime. Yet, the density of the work and its ancient Egyptian setting helped slip it by the repressive state censors. Indeed, responses to Pakrah’s Ka may depend on what the audience brings with them during its premiere American run as part of the Iranian Theater Festival, currently underway at the Brick Theater.

Three servants have been walled up in what is apparently their master’s tomb. According the hourglass, they only have sixty minutes of air remaining. Should they work together, they might conceivably navigate their way out. Unfortunately, their manifest flaws which kept them in bondage will most likely prevent any effective cooperation. One obsequiously servile slave clings to the hope their master will return to save them. Another slave lashes out in indiscriminate fury. Consider him a perpetual one-man day of rage. The woman amongst them is easily the most sympathetic. Horribly abused by their master, both physically and sexually, she has had to survive on the most pragmatic of terms.

As with many dissident Iranian filmmakers, adds a distinct class element to his implied critique of theocratic Iran. Yet, it is hard to miss the enslaving role playing by religious doctrine, nor its intimate association with death. Likewise, the malevolent threat of misogynist violence is another constant undercurrent. Yet, the hour-long Ka is so tightly packed, it is a challenge to find a loose strand to unravel it with.

Of the three trapped slaves, the woman is easily the most fully realized character. This seems to be a function of both the text and Melissa Roth’s forceful performance. Tragically, she might be the most deserving of deliverance, but the least likely to receive it. Again, it is not hard to draw parallels to contemporary Iran, if one is so inclined.

Ka is a strange and unsettling work, well suited to the dark, intimate space of the Brick. Yet, on a human level, its bleakness and emotional distance is ultimately unsatisfying. Again though, what can we expect? It is most definitely a product of its time and place. Certainly a bold selection, Ka runs again March 19th, 24th, and 26th as the Iranian Theater Festival continues at the Brick Theater in the County of Kings.

Iranian Theater Fest: Silken Veils

Opinions of Iran’s Islamic Revolution differed widely within Darya’s family. Her traditional father embraced it, while she and her mother chafed under the new restrictions for women. As a result, her tumultuous Revolutionary-era childhood has profoundly influenced her perception of relationships. The political becomes the personal in Leila Ghaznavi’s Silken Veils (trailer here), a remarkably artful and cohesive fusion of live theater, puppetry, silhouettes, projected animation, and the poetry of Rumi, which runs this weekend as part of the Brick Theater’s Festival of Iranian Theater.

Veils opens like Plaza Suite, with Darya barricading herself in a room after bolting from her own wedding. She never thought she would marry a Persian man and it hardly looks like she is going to do so now, despite their whirlwind romance. Her memories of life in Iran simply will not rest in peace. In flashbacks, we see her father used to be rational and tolerant. Yet, his increasing zealous embrace of Khomeini essentially cleaves their family apart.

In contrast, her mother’s attitudes towards the Shah reflect a more realpolitik sensibility. If not a supporter per se, she certainly appreciates his modernization efforts and their implications for women. As for Darya’s brother, he never really has an opportunity to develop his own opinions. Instead, he becomes one of the twelve year-old “martyrs” the Revolutionary regime used as human mine-sweepers during the Iran-Iraq War.

Though they loom large in Darya’s psyche, we never see her parents personified directly on-stage. Instead, they are represented as either marionettes or evocative backlist shadows. Frankly, it is quite surprising how much emotion Veils conveys through both techniques. In fact, it is downright heavy to watch Ghaznavi make her mother’s marionette weep on-stage.

While the audience gets a bit of an impressionistic sense of life under the oppressive Revolutionary government, Veils is more successful giving voice to the tragic Iranian soul. Indeed, the great misfortune of Darya’s story is the extent to which politics and ideology infect the family unit. Of course, that is what totalitarian regimes set out to do.

Ghaznavi is a very talented puppeteer and a fairly compelling protagonist (though it is worth noting the play is not autobiographical). Despite stepping at nearly the last minute, Tim Shelton works well with Ghaznavi in their puppetry sequences and projects the right open-faced innocence as the ill-fated younger brother. Yet, perhaps the greatest surprise is just how expressive Warren St. George II and Cady Zuckerman are as Darya’s parents, relying solely on their voices and shadowy body language.

Veils is quite literate in its use of language, seamlessly integrating Rumi’s verse into its text. Hamed Nikpay & Houman Pourmehdi’s distinctive soundtrack further burnishes a rich production. Sort of a multi-media theater version of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, Veils is one of the clear highlights of the Iranian Theater Fest. Enthusiastically recommended, it runs again today (3/12) and tomorrow afternoon (3/13) at the Brick Theater in Brooklyn.

(Photo: Lily Gottlieb)