Dear
Visitors,
We
are delighted to share with you the following news/article concerning the
exceptional performance of PURE. After its success in the United
Kingdom, the three ladies involved were invited by the NGO
Committee on the Status of Women to present it at the United Nations in
New York!
EBWN
Dearest
EBWN!
Here is some information for you about the special event in New York at
the UN!
I was overjoyed that the NGO Committee on the Status of Women invited us
for such a special occasion to perform PURE at the 48th Session of the UN
Commission on the Status of Women (C.S.W.), which was held from 1-12 March
2004, at New York UN Headquarters. At this session, the Commission
considered the following thematic issues:
1. The role of men and boys in achieving gender equality;
2. Women's equal participation in conflict prevention, management
and
conflict resolution and in post-conflict peace-building.
It
was truly an overwhelming experience!
Loving
greetings, Shirin
HandMaid
Productions Present:
 
by
Annabel Knight
Directed
by Jessica Naish
Performed
by Shirin Youssefian Maanian
150
years ago in Persia a woman did an extraordinary thing.
This
is the story of the wife who guarded her, the sister who loved her, the
merchant who heard her voice, and the maidservant who hitchhiked across
the desert to see her one last time…
PURE, a one-woman show with 16 characters, is about the events
surrounding the life and death of 19th century Persian poetess and
mystic, Tahirih, who heralded a new age of emancipation for women and
challenged the religious fundamentalism in Iran at that time. It is
funny, intriguing and potent with a spiritual spine that tingles
throughout. The piece intertwines live chanting with an evocative
soundscore drawing on Persian and contemporary music. PURE is written by
Annabel Knight, directed by Jessica Naish and is performed by Shirin
Youssefian Maanian.
Review
of PURE:
“Persia
in the 1840s; a beautiful woman challenges the establishment; a poetess
prophesies and dies.
Pure
is a fascinating and mysterious play which gives gripping glimpses into
fictional and real characters whose lives are changed, inspired, or
transformed by the compelling figure of Tahirih (The Pure One), the
poetess whose potent example caused Sarah Bernhart to commission a play
about her and inspired the inception of Middle Eastern feminism. Still
remembered today in the land of her birth, Iran, in a recent calendar of
famous Iranian women, her poems are sung as popular songs and her dynamic
character is silently recognised but never celebrated. Her exquisite
voice, fondly eulogised in contemporary history, was silenced by
strangulation at her martyrdom, but Shirin Youssefian Maanian evokes the
enthralling power of that voice through her neck hair raising rendition of
haunting melodies which weave through the play. With a convincing and
constantly changing pace, the audience is taken through the highs and lows
of “Pure”s pathos and humour by Shirin’s clever and endearing wit
and with a persuasive performance that turns heart rending sadness into
fits of laughter with a wiggle of the hips. The delicious end is very
worth waiting for.”
PURE
was premiered in the UK in August 2003, at the International Bahá'í
Academy of the Arts, Sidcot, Somerset, toured the UK during November and
December 2003 at a festival in Scarborough, “A Woman’s Place”
conference in Birmingham, and at the New Venture Theatre in Brighton. In
March 2004, PURE was performed at the invitation of the NGO Committee on
the Status of Women at the Commission on the Status of Women at the United
Nations Headquarters in New York.
Review
of PURE at the New Venture Theatre, Brighton, UK
PURE
I
do not know why, after reviewing productions at the NVT [New Venture
Theatre] for almost two years, that I continue to be surprised when my
preconceptions are often proved to be well and truly wrong. On many
occasions, having read the publicity for a show, I have journeyed to the
theatre fearing the worst and expecting to be fed a diet of dullness and
gloom when in fact I am served an exciting feast. Such was the case with
Pure! Who would have thought that an evening about a Persian poetess and
mystic with the threat of live chanting would have produced the
fascinating theatrical treat that it turned out to be.
This one-woman show recounted the events surrounding the life of Tahirih,
the daughter of one of the most important religious leaders in Persia
who was encouraged by her father to study and who at the age of 9 learnt
the Bible, the Torah and the Koran. From this prodigious start she went
on to be known as the poet of Persia and a mystic who heralded a new age
of emancipation of women by challenging the religious fundamentalism of
19th century Iran. The climax of her challenge was the removal of her
veil before a gathering of men, an act that resulted in her death by
strangulation 151 years ago.
The writer, Annabel Knight, had clearly researched her subject and
cleverly unfolded the tale of this remarkable woman through the mouths
of her family, maidservant and others. Each of the 15 characters was
convincingly brought to life by the mesmerising performance of Shirin
Youssefian Maanian who, with a rearrangement of a silk scarf, a change
of inflection in the voice or a body posture, managed the many lightning
interchange of roles. Any fears for a heavy evening were unfounded as
there was much humour in the writing. Undoubtedly the success of the
piece lay with Shirin’s performance, one that shone with warmth and
joy and demonstrated her considerable skills in story telling, mime and
song. It was also the mark of the sensitive direction from Jessica Naish
that drew out such a beautiful performance.
The acting was complimented by original music composed by Karen Solomon
that together with the sound effect of a desert wind evoked an air of
mysticism and desolation.
Many thanks must go to Sweetspot who in association with HandMaid
Productions produced this extraordinary show.
Barrie Jerram
The
Argus
Shirin
Maanian
Performer
 Shirin
Maanian is a performer and a women’s rights activist. She is a founder
member of Sirens International Theatre, a bilingual women’s
theatre company, based in Athens. Her passion for combining theatre and
social issues has produced works on breast cancer, human rights abuse and
the treatment of women in Iran. She works in Greece on the executive
boards of various non-governmental organisations dealing with
Greek-Turkish relations, women of Iran and Afghanistan and human
trafficking, and acts as representative of the Office of Advancement of
Women for the Bahá'í Community of Greece.
Recently
she has performed at EU conferences on gender issues under the Greek EU
Presidency and was invited by the Women’s Commission of the Portuguese
Government to perform at the launching of their new national gender
programme.
Her
Persian background, British upbringing, life in Romania and now in Greece
have all contributed to her identity as a world citizen.
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A
theatrical experience