A Belgian actress of Iranian descent talks about her mother and grandmother and creates a multimedia performance about a woman who has lived between the two cultures. Her story, however, is also that of all mothers and daughters around the world.
If you go to Belgium, you won’t have to ask around too much before you meet someone who knows Sachli Gholamalizad. This actress, whose roots are in the Middle East, stars in successful television series, has appeared on screen and it’s not unusual to see her up on the theatrical stage. In fact, she created her very own show in 2013, A Reason to Talk, which having won prestigious awards in Belgium, such as the Circuit X from the Theatre Festival in Oostende, and having won first prize at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, has performed in Great Britain, The Netherlands and Canada. This show is still very much alive and kicking and comes to Barcelona starring its author and creator. Sachli Gholamalizad talks about her relationships with her mother and grandmother using different methods depending on the character who is talking to us: from diary entries recorded on video in Belgium or Iran, to passages from novels, soundscapes or typed messages. It’s a multimedia creation in which the protagonist, seated at a computer where she controls what the audience sees on a series of big screens, talks about the thousand and one contradictions and confrontations and the many layers that a relationship so full of extremes contains. It is the protagonist’s personal story, a woman who is equally linked to two very different cultures, languages, traditions and values. However, it is also a universal story that, ultimately, talks about the complex relationships that have always been between mothers and daughters all over the world, irrespective of the culture to which they belong.
A production by KVS, KunstZ, Royal Theatre Plymouth & Richard Jordan Productions Ltd.
With the support of Vlaamse Overheid & Stad Antwerpen
Author and performer: Sachli Gholamalizad Set Designer/ technical management: Steven Brys, Donald Berlanger Sound Concept: Andrew Claes Production, tour and distribution: Saskia Liénard Photography: Lucila Guichon
