Image credit from A Moment’s Peace Theatre

*Special Guest Post by Anthony Schrag

Designed as if we were entering a tent, the play is about a woman’s attempt at reconciling her Iranian culture and myths to the UK – as she said several times: she wanted to tell us about her Irania. A one-woman show, it was well-hosted and creative bit of “theatre-in-the-round” that was simply and elegantly staged, with fine pace and rhythm.

In the post-play dissection, Anna (Vermehen) made a good point: she wished it had been called “storytelling” rather than “theatre” and (while that could also come with its own issues) I think she has a point: Theatre (as a definition and genre) is laden with so many difficult notions, that many people shy away from it (much as they shy away from art) and therefore to call it something else might make more successful. Also, I think it could have escaped the pitfalls of theatre in that it does what it says on the box – it tells a story, and she did tell a fine story.   The craft of the play was very good, and the acting was appreciated in that it felt honest and true – indeed I was quite shocked to hear the actor speak in a broad London accent afterwards: I truly felt she was an Iranian attempting to translate her world, and that is a compliment to the actor’s ability of translating the story into something real.    However, my main critique was trying to separate the craft and the display from the facts and politics. It was an emotional plea to the sexism and classicism of modern day Iran, via a telling of its myths as contrasted with our own. As a formula, this worked, but I have been to Iran, and I think we all realise (without having to go there) that a country is made up of more than just bad parts. Certainly, its current government and its current politics are highly restrictive, and certainly woman and other politically disenfranchised groups have horrendous lives – including acid attacks, hanging of gay and lesbians, the imprisonment of citizens who express different views, etc etc. However, there was no discussion of its cultural history, its ancient legacy of poetry, its sense of community, its grace and compassion to strange customs, its hospitality: things that maybe are more ancient and good and positive than its current government. This left the story with a bit of polemic feel to it: a sort of emotional plea that threw me out of the several interwoven and well-knitted stories, and back to the world of “theatre”, despite the engaging nature of the conceits. What I mean is this: the arguments were so forceful that I found myself rejecting them and the experience, and think that the production could have achieved its goals had they stuck to the storytelling, rather than the jarring exposition.   There were, sadly, only 5 people in the audience. From a political perspective (as polarised as it was) there are important stories to tell, and the production told them well, so it is a shame that not more people went. However, there is a discussion to be had of “relevance”: how is this play relevant to the citizens of Huntly? I found myself thinking of other artistic strategies that are presented as being good in and of themselves, and indeed, artistic experiences can be in and of themselves excellent things, but there was little attempt to draw the Citizens of Huntly into a discussion about how and why is the current cultural climate in Iran pertinent to them? Why, unless they have a specific link with Iran, would someone spend time and money to see this play?  Often, I think this is where art and theatre that does not come from a socially engaged perspective fails – it expects us (as the amorphous ‘people’) to do all the work; it demands that we shift our perspectives without offering anything in return. This is perhaps the reason for its low attendance, and perhaps the major flaw in theatrical presentations.

 A Moment’s Peace Theatre Company presents The Chronicles of Irania by Maryam Hamidi and Catrin Evans, who stopped in Huntly last night via North East Arts Touring.