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Beneath Vosooghi
"Az Maahvaareh Baa Eshgh" was more like "Az
Maahvaareh Bikhod"
February 15, 2005
iranian.com
It was half past nine on a Sunday evening and the show was supposed to start
anytime, well at least according to what was written on the ticket. Looking around
the well-lit auditorium, the seats were not all filled like I had expected. It
was surprising, given the rarity of the spectacle.
The seats which were filled
contained a lot of peroxide and a few hairless heads. Many of them had hopped
over the Persian Gulf to Dubai to make it to the last day of a highly publicized
theatre production from Los Angeles. It had been years since the last time
I had attended
a theatrical
play, making me all the more anxious to experience another, especially one
with a famous celebrity.
I tried to entertain myself by searching for familiar faces in the aisles
or backs of heads in the rows ahead of me. I managed to locate one friend sitting
two rows down and five seats to my left. I hadn't seen her for months.
She seemed to have aged. My watch read nine forty five and the stage was still
empty.
Perhaps I should take a nap, I thought. Gazing at the aging friend,
I reminisced on the wild New Year Eve's boat party two years ago. While
we danced on The Creek, a few hundred miles away the Iraqis were desperately
embracing for the anticipated bombing raid. Finally, the lights are dimmed
and the show begins, half hour late.
Hooshang Tozi, the Iranian playwright/come actor, walks out on the set as
Shahin, a surviving singer in some trashy Iranian cabaret in LA, and the owner
of a desperately run Iranian satellite TV channel. Next is the sleazy TV hostess,
whose endless flirtations with the owner, is supposed to convince him to allow
her to host the RSVP music program. And then there is the supportive fiancée
who is forever running about Shahin doing all his chores, hoping that one
day he will marry her.
The general plot was amusing however I wasn't sure whether I was watching
a Persian or an American production. The two female characters were flat out
of the TV series "Friends", whose acting did not portray any Iranian
female that I have known. It was almost like teaching Jennifer Aniston a few
lines of Persian and allowing her to speak English as she liked while being
her American self in an Iranian play.
 What's worse is that the lines articulated were direct transliterations
of a typical Californian conversation in an American situation comedy. I thought
this is not authentic. It is out right plagiarism. The director of the play
should have studied the females' characters more closely and matched
it with reality. He should have been more sensitive to the difficulties of
representing immigrant characters. The actors tend to adopt the native character
because it's more prevalent and therefore, their acting skills may be
good but their character representation is wrong. They should search and study
their character in the Iranian community and not on American national television.
Even the name of the play, "Az Maahvaareh Baa Eshgh", was a transliteration
of "Via Satellite, with love". It sounds a bit awkward in Persian
and does not convey the true English meaning either. Perhaps "Az Maahvaareh
Baa Mehr" would have been a better choice or better yet "Az Maahvaareh
Bikhod".
The crowd seemed to enjoy the comedy within the character of the sleazy TV
hostess and the mockery of the mushrooming Iranian Exile TV. Admittedly, the
exaggerations were humorous but I wonder if the audience was as disappointed
as I about the other aspects of the play.
Continuing on, the plot thickens when an older rich cousin from Germany,
played by Behrooz
Vosooghi, arrives in town only to shatter Shahin's dreams
by telling him that he is not rich anymore therefore he can not be a sponsor
for
Shahin's TV program. This was after all the moaning and groaning dialogue
about their forced departure from Iran and the pains they each had to endure,
a story told a million times. The character allocated to Behrooz, I thought,
was so beneath him it was too shameful to watch. A novice could have acted
that part out, no need for Behrooz.
Then I realized what role he is really playing. He is exactly the selling
point of this lousy play. Mind you that was the main reason why I went to the
play in the first place. Given his place in the Iranian cinema, I think he
was worthy of a significantly more challenging role to remind the audience
of his position in the performing arts.
 As the minutes ticked on, which seemed like hours, I was hoping that when
the lights come on the silliness would be over and we could go home. I pondered
over the many hours spent rehearsing roles and memorizing lines which only
served to momentarily amuse the nostalgic spectators. Theatrical arts, as with
other forms of art, are a nation's mouthpiece. Good theatre happens when
the mouthpiece is used to inspire and educate. Perhaps I was expecting a bit
too much.
The lights did come on finally but unfortunately a 10 minute break was announced.
With a heavy sigh, I convinced myself to sit through the second half, however,
as with all Iranian event schedules, the 10 minute break started to stretch
into the 30 minute range at which time I just got up and left.
.................... Say
goodbye to spam!
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