Starting with a runaway bride hiding in a closet, Silken Veils moves into the past, using projection, shadow play and puppetry to recreate Darias parents love affair in Iran over the course of the 1970s revolutions.Each element of this finely-woven play supports and reinforces the others. Though the animation feels a little too modern, reminiscent of computer game graphics, it helps set scenes in a very different past and creates a dynamic backdrop. The play works best when it is simply the shadows and the puppets on stage. Cady Zuckerman and Warren St. George II as Darias mother and father convey emotion through their profiles alone and they use the poetic language of the play without a hint of falsity or pretension. This language, drawing on Rumi poetic tradition, separates the past from the very modern, American present, where the bride and spurned groom argue across closed doors with fierce and often funny passion. Leila Ghaznavi, also the playwright, is powerful as the confused Daria, both as child and adult. Her skill as performer stretches to dancer and puppeteer and it is she who holds the play together, on stage for the entire time, drawing the thread of the story along. The puppets are beautifully crafted and it is a shame that the seats for the audience are not more banked in the venue as often the puppetry is hidden by the heads of those in the first row. This is just a niggle, as the puppets are manipulated to reflect the emotion of the shadows to excellent effect. It is not entirely clear why both puppets and shadows are needed; both are so wonderful to watch that they can distract from the other. Behind the dialogue, traditional music plays almost unnoticeably, it blends so well with the scenes. This is a carefully put together production, with a moving storyline that carries the audience along, unconscious of time passing.
