My last show of this year’s SummerWorks was perhaps the most unusual. Date of Performance; written and directed by Maryam Khalili and presented in The Theatre Centre’s Franco Boni Theatre. It’s a lecture-performance documenting theatre and performance practices created inside Iranian prisons from 1954 to 2024. There is no-one on-stage; just recordings of telephone conversations and some voice overs; all in Farsi with English subtitles.

The time period is interesting because it really covers two eras; the reign of the Shah when the prisoners were mostly members of leftist political parties followed by intensifying repression of a broader spectrum of opinion after the establishment of the Islamic Republic. It’s interesting how things change and how they don’t. The interviews with contemporary artists, prison letters, archival materials, and post-release writings all explore how imprisoned artists conceived, rehearsed, and staged performances under conditions of isolation, repression and deep uncertainty. Some of this was very creative including the use of volleyball games as rehearsal opportunities. Most of this work was undertaken in secrecy but, perhaps surprisingly, some was facilitated and encouraged by the state; provided it conformed to the prevailing ideology.

We are used to theatre where we see as well as hear the participants but in Date of Performance the actors are absent; paralleling their absence from Iranian stages. How do we react to that? Is it in fact real theatre? I have to say that for me it worked as theatre. I found it compelling and very moving. This show was seen in Tehran and Berlin before coming to Toronto so t may pop up again. I’d definitely recommend it.

Photo of Maryam Khalili by Nazanin Khalili