Review: THREE TALL PERSIAN WOMEN at Shakespeare & Company

Yellow, orange and red have entered the local landscape signaling the end to summer and another robust theatrical season in the Berkshires.  Shakespeare & Company’s final offering of the season is a World Premiere of Awni Abdi-Bahri’s THREE TALL PERSIAN WOMEN directed by Dalia Ashurina.  This delightful production is another fine example of the synergy achieved when talented artists each adept and skilled in their own right join forces.

THREE TALL PERSIAN WOMEN is a comedic play about generational differences, grief, control, and learning to let go; but more than anything, it’s a love story to immigrant mothers. Golnar, a punkish Iranian-American millennial, returns home to her mother Nasrin for the anniversary of her father’s passing and walks into hoards of family memorabilia that her grandmother Mamani has moved in with her.

Director Dalia Ashurina said that the play explores how and why societies police women’s bodily autonomy.  “We see how the women in this play are restrained by societal expectations, even in the safety of their own home," she said, "and how being honest instead of staying ‘peaceful’ can help each generation learn valuable lessons from one another.”

Abdi-Bahri's script is highly relatable, and quite well written.  Despite the title, character names, and some references, the dialogue is contemporary and comfortable.  It seems as if we could be viewing three generations of just about any family unit.  There are plenty of mmh hmmh moments and head nods as the action unfolds that feels familiar regardless of one’s ethnic background or even gender.

Having playwright Awni Abdi-Bahri lead the ensemble cast in the role of Golnar probably helps with both the comfortability and familiar feeling.  She is joined by Lanna Joffrey as Mamani, Afsheen Misaghi as Shayan, and Niousha Noor as Nasrin.  Each delivers a strong and commendable performance.  With set design by Omid Akbari, lighting design by Erika Johnson, costume design by Andrea Herrera, sound design by Bryn Scharenberg creating a handsome and effective space for the action to play out within.

THREE TALL PERSION WOMEN was originally staged at Shakespeare & Company as a reading in the Plays in Process series.  This funny and delightful little world premiere production continues at the Elaine P. Bernstein Theatre in Lenox through October 13.

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