Stage Door News
Stage Door News
April 6, 2016, TORONTO – Why Not Theatre is pleased to present the North American premiere of A Reason to Talk, a politically charged, introspective piece by Sachli Gholamalizad about growing up Iranian in a Belgian home. A Reason to Talk opens on May 6, 2016 at The Theatre Centre (1115 Queen St W), running May 6 – 14, 2016. This is the latest piece from Why Not in a series of critically acclaimed international presentations from diverse cultures and languages such as Cine Monstro (Brazil, performed in Portuguese), D-Sisyphe (Tunisia, performed in Arabic), Ismat Apa Ke Naam (India, performed in Urdu/Hindi) and Ballad of the Burning Star (UK).
Is this a story of extremes, of bi-cultural upbringing, or is it simply the story of all mothers and daughters? Sachli Gholamalizad, a young Belgian actress of Iranian descent, questions her troubled relationship with her mother. Fusing together recordings, diary excerpts, memories, novels and soundscapes from both Belgium and Iran, Gholamalizad dives into her family’s history and the contradictions in the lives of these three women, confronting both her mother and grandmother in a thrilling and unruly multi-media performance.
Gholamalizad was a child when her parents relocated from Iran, spending her youth in Belgium and continuing to live there today. In A Reason to Talk, Gholamalizad lets the resentment and anger she feels toward her mother leach into the audience, refusing to face them, projecting video feed of her face alongside memories from her youth and clips from a tension riddled interview with her mother. As refugees fleeing Iran after the 1979 revolution, Gholamalizad’s parents experienced significant hardship and culture shock as a result of their move - Gholamalizad questions her mother’s way of coping with the relocation and investigates whether the life her mother created was built on lies, or simply a mechanism of survival.
A Reason to Talk debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2015 where it won the coveted Edinburgh First Fringe Award and has gone on to receive several accolades. It is written and performed by Sachli Gholamalizad with sound and video design by Steven Brys.
A Reason to Talk runs in rep at The Theatre Centre alongside a remount of Why Not Theatre’s hit production, Iceland (April 25 to May 14, 2016). In Iceland, Why Not Theatre’s Artistic Director Ravi Jain reunites with Kawa Ada on the heels of their success with Salt-Water Moon, along with co-stars Christine Horne and Claire Calnan. The piece is written by Governor General’s Award-winning writer Nicolas Billon and directed by Ravi Jain.
To learn more please visit: http://www.theatrewhynot.org/project/a-reason-to-talk/
Tickets: https://tickets.theatrecentre.org/TheatreManager/1/tmEvent/tmEvent144.html
Trailer: http://vimeo.com/theatrewhynot/reasontotalk
Twitter: @theatrewhynot
Facebook: facebook.com/theatrewhynot
Photo: Sachli Gholamalizad. ©2015 Sarah Oyserman.
2016-04-06
Toronto: The North American premiere of "A Reason to Talk" runs May 6-14