Review: NASSIM at The Overture Center

I cannot imagine the bravery of the actor in last nights performance of NASSIM. The premise is simple. One actor on stage performing a never seen script. Then it gets more difficult as by the end of the play the performance is done in Farsi.

Francesca Hong, a Madison actor, was more than up for the challenge. She handled the entire evening with poise and grace. Francesca was a pleasure to watch, and to have this shared experience with.

In this time of not only country wide, but worldwide division, Nassim brings people together with a commonality in this muti-media presentation. In his beautiful autobiographical tale, he manages to capitalize on human experiences that relates to most people. The love of a mother, the longing for home, the nostalgia of what once was, and the quest for more.

Filled with honesty the playwright (Nassim Soleimanpour) pours out his desires with a smooth vulnerability that depicts exactly the right amount of humility and reverence the play needs. Adding the vulnerability of the actor in having no idea what was about to happen, heightens the audience buy in.

My takeaway from this performance was that it was about love and longing. About connection on both a personal and global level. At the end of the play, I felt better connected to not only to this astounding playwright and the amazing actor, but to the audience and people on the other side of the planet.

Well done sir! Well done. And Brava to Francesca for putting herself out there and allow us to come on the journey with her during what essentially in the business is know as a "Cold Read". I could not have wished for a better night.

Please, take the time to go see this wonderful piece. Change your plans for the weekend, for this weekend is all you have to see this before it heads out to affect a new city in a new state.

NASSIM

TUE, MAR 8 - SAT, MAR 12

PROMENADE HALL: $46

RUNNING TIME:

60-80 minutes, no intermission

NOTICES:

Recommended for ages 6 and up

GROUP TICKETS AVAILABLE! Save when you bring a group of 10 or more.

IMPORTANT: Overture Center currently has health and safety policies in place in regard to COVID-19. Please refer to our Health & Safety page to learn about our requirements before entering our building.

Dear performer. I want to show you something. Did you know, in Farsi my name is written like this: ".ROUPNAMIELOS MISSAN si eman yM"

From Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour comes an audacious new theatrical experiment. Each night a different performer joins the playwright on stage, while the script waits unseen in a sealed box. Touchingly autobiographical yet powerfully universal, NASSIM is a striking theatrical demonstration of how language can both divide and unite us. NASSIM follows Soleimanpour's globally acclaimed White Rabbit Red Rabbit, which has been translated into more than 25 different languages and performed over 1,000 times by names including Stephen Fry & Ken Loach. Winner of the Scotsman Fringe First Award at Edinburgh Fringe 2017.

Each performance we welcome a different local guest to the stage:

Tuesday, March 8, 7:30pm | Karra Beach
Wednesday, March 9, 7:30pm | Francesca Hong
Thursday, March 10, 7:30pm | Jessica Cavazos
Friday, March 11, 7:30pm | Anne Strainchamps
Saturday, March 12, 2pm | Oscar Mireles
Saturday, March 12, 7:30pm | Angela Russell