This is a great show. There is a real integrity and honesty to the performances that carries an energy that captivates an audience and takes them along on an exploration of Nostalgia. I lost all sense that we were above a pub in North London. Leaving any sort of logos at the door and channeling your mythos, the very simple premise behind this show offers a wealth of entertainment.
Using live music (no common place instruments), vocal arrangements (not just singing but primal, human sounds), physical theatre and language, the two performers transport the audience into the realms of memory. It is not your traditional, standard show – there is some pretty out there stuff. Having said that, it really works. I was hypnotized for the 45minutes of the show.
Both Maryam Davari and Sara Amini have a real connectedness and intensity behind their performances. Together, they found a satisfying balance and harmony to their dynamic in performance. They displayed, and thereby created, a real sense of openness. The memories and the relationships they staged had a clarity that provoked thought. That’s not to say that there is any particular narrative; there isn’t one. Rather, they dangle just enough familiarity and offer just enough moments for a layman theatregoer, like myself, to recognize and keep up. For me, the most glorious aspect of the Whispers Turn into a Cry experience was that they didn’t try and prescribe or spoon-feed any reaction from the audience. They left us to draw from it what we wished. My reading of the piece left me with recognition of the power that memory holds to either preserve or destroy those things we leave at its mercy.
Stylistically, it is a very sensuous experience that makes all of your senses want to stand up and get involved. It will stay with me for a while. The resonances they find vocally are particularly penetrating and immersive. Most refreshingly of all, the use of English is so sparse! The lexicon in use is so specific and carefully constructed that there’s not a single word used gratuitously. I think that’s cool, when everyday you hear so much bullshit. A powerful and truthful sojourn to a part of being alive that gets lost behind ‘polite’ behaviour.
