A feast of symbolism
I have never been to Iran. That's an important factor to know before reading this. I have however, just finished working on a theatre show about an Iranian family with Iranian artists and collection of people who have.
As part of The Iranian Feast [a show for by the Farnham Maltings written and directed by Kevin Dyer] we cook. Or I should say, the actors cook
on stage
for the entire audience
whilst on tour to village halls around the country
yup.
That revolving door of a logistical brain hurdle has since been cleared, and the actors are now on tour and moving audiences to stand each night with a show about a family and a country, both broken and beautiful in their own incredible ways.
The food is a traditional Iranian noodle soup called Aash Reshteh. Developed by Iranian cook Yasmin Khan, it not only fills the audience but fulfills the meaning required for such a special meal.
From working on this show I have learnt that Iranians love symbolism, especially with food.
There is a shop in the heart of Peckham, called Persepolis, and in it you will find Sally, and in Sally you will find vastly more stories and knowledge of the ways and customs of Iranian culture than I can remember to fit on this blog post [the image to the right is our order for the run!]. But to get you started here are a few good ones:
- 'Aashpaz' is the verb for cooking
- You use green ingredients in meals particularly around new year or 'Nowrooz' meaing 'new day/life' [the 21st of March is the start of spring and the new year in Iran] as it represents the dark of winter changing to the new life of spring. It marks the moment 7000 years ago when the new earth started to become green.
and my particular favorite:
- You also use noodles in new year dishes, as they represent the different strands of life coming together.
This symbolism is something that seems to be ingrained in the people of Iran. Now take into consideration the restrictions placed upon freedom of expression and on the women in particular and you can begin to imagine what their theatre work might be like.
In the show's programme, Gavin Stride, Artistic Director of the Farnham Maltings and Producer of The Iranian Feast said this:
"In Iran making theatre is extremely challenging. The work has to be sanctioned by the state and can only be presented in theatres owned and managed by the state, a government official sitting in on every rehearsal with the authority to censor or stop a particular performance. Men and women cannot touch or sing or dance. Despite all these challenges theatre makers manage, somehow, to say everything from the stage."
The use of symbolism and that moment of independent realisation for the audience is, in my opinion, one of the reasons theatre works. Allowing our audience the capacity for their own thought process, being intelligent enough to credit them with intelligence means our work can exist on a higher level. Symbolism seems as important in Iranian food as it is a fundamental component of theatre making, we get across what we want to say in the minutiae of gesture or the world encasing gallant metaphor. A doll's house. A silent scream.
In western theatre, that genre of art is a choice. We can choose not to tell you everything. In Iranian theatre, there is no such choice.
From chatting to the Iranian theatre makers we were lucky enough to have with us, I was fascinated by how they managed to say what they're not allowed to say. I asked whether the bird in the cage metaphor made sense to the feelings of the woman trapped in the house, to which I got a whole hearted 'Yes'. It goes as far as to say the work of Ibsen and Shaw speaks volumes to the Iranian people. [There shines a reason to adapt an Ibsen and set it in Tehran if ever I saw one]
I for one would love to see that work. I want to be that audience member who can read the truth through the rules telling it not to speak. Knowing that the same country will fine a woman on the street for laughing too loudly, for wearing nail varnish or exposing her toes and that 20 of those fines would roughly account for a months wage is difficult to take considering the liberal attitudes of the West. That info is also by far the lighter end of the scale. But the theatre still exists. There was such a desire in the show's development to represent Iran not just as a political quagmire but as a stunning and hopeful country. There are many more widely informed bloggers, activists and websites out there that tell you far more about the horrific realities and wonderful people of the country than I can, and as I said before, all my knowledge comes second hand. But what I have learnt from being an outsider helping create a show about some insiders to be performed outside of Iran is that:
- I am grateful for my right to the freedom of expression, especially within art.
- A little dark soy sauce and black pepper makes noodle soup taste that bit better.
- You can try as hard as you like to stop someone from expressing a truth, but if its truly important, it will find a way out.
bit more info:
An intro to the show and the magic of rural touring by Nell Ranney
http://signoftheacorn.wordpress.com/2013/10/07/iranian-feast/
an incredible animated film
http://viooz.co/movies/2280-persepolis-2007.html
and the show
Farnham Maltings presents... The Iranian Feast - a play with food from the heart of Persia
As part of The Iranian Feast [a show for by the Farnham Maltings written and directed by Kevin Dyer] we cook. Or I should say, the actors cookon stage
for the entire audience
whilst on tour to village halls around the country
yup.
That revolving door of a logistical brain hurdle has since been cleared, and the actors are now on tour and moving audiences to stand each night with a show about a family and a country, both broken and beautiful in their own incredible ways.
The food is a traditional Iranian noodle soup called Aash Reshteh. Developed by Iranian cook Yasmin Khan, it not only fills the audience but fulfills the meaning required for such a special meal.
From working on this show I have learnt that Iranians love symbolism, especially with food.There is a shop in the heart of Peckham, called Persepolis, and in it you will find Sally, and in Sally you will find vastly more stories and knowledge of the ways and customs of Iranian culture than I can remember to fit on this blog post [the image to the right is our order for the run!]. But to get you started here are a few good ones:
- 'Aashpaz' is the verb for cooking
- You use green ingredients in meals particularly around new year or 'Nowrooz' meaing 'new day/life' [the 21st of March is the start of spring and the new year in Iran] as it represents the dark of winter changing to the new life of spring. It marks the moment 7000 years ago when the new earth started to become green.
and my particular favorite:
- You also use noodles in new year dishes, as they represent the different strands of life coming together.
This symbolism is something that seems to be ingrained in the people of Iran. Now take into consideration the restrictions placed upon freedom of expression and on the women in particular and you can begin to imagine what their theatre work might be like.In the show's programme, Gavin Stride, Artistic Director of the Farnham Maltings and Producer of The Iranian Feast said this:
"In Iran making theatre is extremely challenging. The work has to be sanctioned by the state and can only be presented in theatres owned and managed by the state, a government official sitting in on every rehearsal with the authority to censor or stop a particular performance. Men and women cannot touch or sing or dance. Despite all these challenges theatre makers manage, somehow, to say everything from the stage."
The use of symbolism and that moment of independent realisation for the audience is, in my opinion, one of the reasons theatre works. Allowing our audience the capacity for their own thought process, being intelligent enough to credit them with intelligence means our work can exist on a higher level. Symbolism seems as important in Iranian food as it is a fundamental component of theatre making, we get across what we want to say in the minutiae of gesture or the world encasing gallant metaphor. A doll's house. A silent scream.
From chatting to the Iranian theatre makers we were lucky enough to have with us, I was fascinated by how they managed to say what they're not allowed to say. I asked whether the bird in the cage metaphor made sense to the feelings of the woman trapped in the house, to which I got a whole hearted 'Yes'. It goes as far as to say the work of Ibsen and Shaw speaks volumes to the Iranian people. [There shines a reason to adapt an Ibsen and set it in Tehran if ever I saw one]
I for one would love to see that work. I want to be that audience member who can read the truth through the rules telling it not to speak. Knowing that the same country will fine a woman on the street for laughing too loudly, for wearing nail varnish or exposing her toes and that 20 of those fines would roughly account for a months wage is difficult to take considering the liberal attitudes of the West. That info is also by far the lighter end of the scale. But the theatre still exists. There was such a desire in the show's development to represent Iran not just as a political quagmire but as a stunning and hopeful country. There are many more widely informed bloggers, activists and websites out there that tell you far more about the horrific realities and wonderful people of the country than I can, and as I said before, all my knowledge comes second hand. But what I have learnt from being an outsider helping create a show about some insiders to be performed outside of Iran is that:
- I am grateful for my right to the freedom of expression, especially within art.
- A little dark soy sauce and black pepper makes noodle soup taste that bit better.
- You can try as hard as you like to stop someone from expressing a truth, but if its truly important, it will find a way out.
photo by Nell Ranney
bit more info:
An intro to the show and the magic of rural touring by Nell Ranney
http://signoftheacorn.wordpress.com/2013/10/07/iranian-feast/
an incredible animated film
http://viooz.co/movies/2280-persepolis-2007.html
and the show
Farnham Maltings presents... The Iranian Feast - a play with food from the heart of Persia
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