Haram Iran

In a slight diversion from their usual fun, camp, all-singing all-dancing productions, Above The Stag are playing host to a hard-hitting drama about the lives of two young boys living in Iran under Sharia rule. 

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Based on true events, Haram Iran is a coming-of-age story of 15 year old Mahmoud and Ayaz, growing up in a small town in Iran. Their friendship becomes close, and then begins to become something deeper. They’re caught by a friend one day in a compromising situation. He reports it to the authorities, and the results are catastrophic.

The two halves of the play are very different, which makes for an emotive contrast. The first half is a light, Beautiful Thing-esque tale of two boys falling in love. And without giving too much away, the second half is starkly and aggressively different.

Writer Jay Paul Deratany pulls no punches in portraying the harsh reality of life in Iran. In fact, I at first thought the script must surely be too over-the-top, surely life and laws there couldn’t be that extreme. But I chatted to a lovely fellow audience member who lived in the Middle East for years, and he said it wasn’t an exagerration. “it’s the middle east,” he said. “It’s not the west. That’s what life’s like.” So an important lesson was learnt.

The entire cast were wonderful, convincing and instantly likeable. Silvana Maimone was a firm favourite as Ayaz’s rebellious, musical-loving mother. Her wry quips over the laundry basket lent some much-needed comic relief to proceedings. As well as her, the two boys were played with brilliant, sensory innocence by Andrei Costin and Viraj Juneja. I’d also like to give a special mention to Fanos Xenofos as a sadistic prison guard. I found him distractingly sexy, then remembered how awful his character was and tried not to.

Anyway, an altogether wonderful and important production. Head down to Above The Stag and see it ASAP.

 

• Haram Iran is at Above The Stag until 1st May. For more info go to: abovethestag.com

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