Last week I had the great pleasure of watching Prisoner of Tehran, a performance by the Motus O dance theatre from Ontario. (Sincere gratitude to the Estevan Arts Council for making it possible.)
And what an influence that was.
For those of you that weren't there and have never heard of it, Prisoner of Tehran is a collaboration between - a speaker and writer, the author of the same-named book, which became a bestseller in many countries – and Motus O. This unique performance literally and visually tells the story of Nemat, the Iranian revolution, freedom and loss of it, oppression, persecution, survival and hope.
Nemat was born in Iran, this now deeply Islamic state, when it was a secular authoritarian monarchy. Her description of pre-revolutionary Tehran was so drastically different from everything we know and hear about Iran. It was a very different country. Men and women could get education and work, girls would wear mini skirts or anything they wanted, would spend time together with boys, listening to Western hits and discussing popular philosophic ideas.
They were free to grow, learn, develop and succeed. Even though 98-99 per cent of the population was Muslim, Iran, in memories of then-young Christian Nemat, was full of colour and life, and people around her enjoyed those freedoms.
She was 14 years old when the Iranian Revolution happened in 1979, and everything soon started changing. In her memories, the revolution overthrew what supporters described as a corrupt and evil Shah, but as it turned out later brought in more cruel powers. At the time of the revolution, as Nemat recalled, no one around her could explain what exactly will happen and what revolutionists wanted to achieve.
After all, the authoritarian monarchy was replaced by a long-lasting Shiite totalitarian Islamic republic, and the strict religious laws returned. (Iran had been a secular state since 1925.)
In the performance, it was beautifully described and expressed how those changes wouldn't occur over a day or two. It was really easy to miss them and keep on with life for some time until it was too late. It took time to rewrite the constitution and gradually start taking many people's freedoms away.
For Nemat it felt like the new regime banned their right to have fun. She was young and along with her friends, she would hit the streets and protest the new rules. Soon, still at a very young age, she became a political prisoner, came close to being executed, was sentenced to life in prison, survived what most girls and women around her didn't, then was freed and fought her way to Canada in 1991. She later was able to move her parents over as well but has never been to Iran again as she says she'd be executed if she sets foot on the native land.
I didn't know much about pre-revolutionary Iran before this event, and it left me stunned by how quickly and unpredictably things may change. But it also left me with an aftertaste of feeling that I actually witnessed somewhat similar changes.
When I just came to Canada, I was teased a lot with questions if Russia had running water or electric power. These were just jokes, probably inspired by the echo of the Cold War and the competitiveness of those times. Not that the U.S.S.R. was as out of touch as the U.S. painted it, but Russia in the 2000s definitely made a lot of progress in many areas and at least Moscow, St. Petersburg and other major cities were advanced by the 2010s.
But that widespread vision of Russia as a developing country probably made the many barbarian moves and laws implemented by the Russian government over the years and the war against Ukraine expectable and then explainable for many people around the world. Even though for me the war was a shock that crushed my worldviews, Russian involvement was still something that made more sense, at least at an unconscious level, than imagining that the U.S., the U.K. or friendly Canada would turn into a dictatorship state, exterminating its own people, attacking neighbours and threatening the rest of the world. But the performance made me look wider at evil's potential.
As was underlined in the Prisoner of Tehran, no one is immune. Even if you were lucky to be born in a deeply democratic country, it's not guaranteed it will last forever. It's not guaranteed that those living in democratic states today won't be stripped of their right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and other rights we often take for granted when living in an established democracy. After all, Hitler rose in Germany, and not in some developing state.
Motus O theatre performs on a tour all around Canada and stops at high schools a lot, inspiring today's kids, tomorrow's adults, to be a bit more conscious of how fast and drastically life can change.
