THE MUTE WHO WAS DREAMED. To 26 August.
Edinburgh - Fringe
THE MUTE WHO WAS DREAMED
Theatre Bazi at Theatre Workshop, Hamilton Terrace To 26 August 2002
9.30pm(to 24 August); 6pm & 8pm (25-26 August)
Runs 1hr No interval
TICKETS 0131 226 5425
Review Timothy Ramsden 18 August
A fascinating staging exploring the complexities inherent in a relationship.Iran's Theatre Bazi comes to Edinburgh's Aurora Nova season with a piece that is intimate and specific to its country, yet universal in its resonances.
Performing in a wire-mesh cage, two women- possibly mother and daughter, or elder and younger sister (the character names seem generic to function rather than socially specific) - enact confined activities that force the older (Teacher) on the other almost as much as they confine Student (the Mute, who has neither sight nor voice) to the alternately tender and unsympathetic care of her 'partner'. Here is a female Hamm and Clove - except that, unlike Beckett's Endgame, the world outside is not coming to an end.
For film projected on the intermittently visible screen behind the mesh shows the pair engaging in the rough-and-tumble play they're denied in their joint cage. Their projected snowballing reflects a freer, more playful version of their caged lives: an activity that can be either an enjoyable game or
a start-up form of conflict.
Also starring is the Duck Student is given to fondle. It starts centre stage, on the table at the two ends of which the women sit with food - a connection in their lifestyle and a handy means of control. For, when Student seems keener on devouring books, a path to independence Teacher takes from her, she is given the creature to fondle.
But this alternative has its rougher side; only protective neckwear keeps student from suffering Duck's unaffectionate pecks as the creature's imprisoned for her supposed comfort.
Student's other creature comfort, her secret, is the gold fish she keeps hidden in a jar over in a corner away from the centre of the two women's lives. Yet no secret is safe in such a confined existence; gold fish is consumed by Teacher; Student is agonised to find this out.
Finally, the younger woman cuts her way out of the cage. It's an act of assertion and independence, but it asks many questrions about survival: this, though, is not the piece's concern but its conclusion.
How much is Mute's impact dependent on its specific setting? While the on/off kindness and oppression in the relationship is universally human, as is the question of who - if either -of the pair is more stifled by the situation, I wonder how much of the power would survive over 60 minutes out of the specific cultural context. Which is hypothetical, but asks what it is we respond to, or feel is commented on, in this undoubtedly individually-voiced, yet wordless, piece.
Teacher: Fatemeh Naghevi
Student: Setarah Pessyani
Director: Attila Pessyani
Aurora Nova season produced by fabrik, Potsdam and Komedia, Brighton
Season sponsor: Cafedirect
2002-08-21 10:14:01