Review: NASSIM: OZASIA FESTIVAL 2108 at AC Arts Theatre

Reviewed by Petra Schulenburg, Friday 2nd November 2018.

The premise of Nassim, is that each performance is delivered by a different actor, one who has never seen nor read the play before, and who will perform it unrehearsed, live, without a director. The play will be as new to him or her as it is to the audience. What Nassim delivers is a theatrical experiment in spontaneity, in connection, and in humanity.

The self-titled play is written by Iranian playwright, Nassim Soleimanpour. The story is ostensibly one of childhood and home, of the guiding and abiding love between mother and son, of loss of that home, of grieving for one's own language and culture, and of a longing to no longer be a foreigner in one's own country.

Soleimanpour now lives with his wife in Berlin. His plays have toured the world but have never been performed in his birthplace of Iran. His mother, who speaks and understands only Farsi, has never seen or heard one of his plays performed. Indeed, Soleimanpour, who eventually joins the actor on stage, mutely shows us his passport and visas, photos of family on his phone, wordlessly he invites us to drink tea with him, and perhaps share a meal after the show. Silently, he asks us to teach him English, and so he learns the meaning of "discrimination". In turn, he invites us to learn some Farsi and so, through his written words, we rediscover the meaning of family and longing, and what it means to be human.

The actor performing on the night was Adelaide's own, delightful Paul Blackwell. This is a venture that asks its performers to leave their ego and any need for control at the door, and Paul was the perfect host and guide for the audience's journey of discovery that is Soleimanpour's play. He brings a humility and generosity of spirit to the proceedings that gives us all permission to participate. There is no fourth wall here.

Deceptively simple in its concepts, the creative team on Nassim includes director, Omar Elerian, designer, Rhys Jarman, sound designer, James Swadlo, and lighting designer, Rajiv Pattani.

Indeed the 'set' is little more than a chair, table, microphone, and giant projection screen, upon we can all see the story and action unfold, live, in real time, literally, page by page.

"One word can carry us away while another can bring us back home". Nassim is a deceptively simple, gently delivered piece of experiential theatre that engages the heart and speaks to the audience at the deepest levels because, while the language of home is precious to us all, the business of being human is universal.