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Asia Society Presents
Sohrab and Rustum
Written and Performed by Zaraawar Mistry
Created in collaboration with Kathleen Sullivan
Music composed and performed live by Tim O'Keefe and Maryam
Yusefzadeh
Friday and Saturday, November 7 and 8 at 8:00 p.m.
Pre-performance introduction to Zoroastrianism by Khurshid
Rudina
At Asia Society and Museum
725 Park Avenue at 70th Street, New York City
Asia Society presents two spellbinding nights of the one-man
theater piece by Asian American writer/performer Zaraawar
Mistry. Based on the 11th century Persian classic by Hakim
Abul Ghasem Ferdowsi, Shahnameh (Book of Kings),
the performance tells the tale of the fateful battle between
the warrior Rustum and his son Sohrab. Mistry’s play
intertwines elements of the ancient legend with the tragicomic
story of a contemporary Zoroastrian (or Parsi) family from
Bombay.
Reviewed as “among the ten best plays of 2002”
by City Pages, Minneapolis, Mistry’s contemporary
interpretation of Sohrab and Rustum is set against a backdrop
of the zenith, decline, and now preservation of the Zoroastrians.
Zoroastrians are followers of the prophet Zarathushtra, whose
religion flourished during the great Iranian empires. With
the spread of Islam in the 7th to 8th centuries, a small band
of Zoroastrian refugees fled to India to avoid persecution
--- making up the 75,000 Parsis living in India today.
While the play is based on an ancient Persian epic, it is
also a quintessentially modern-day story about loyalty, generational
differences, war and migration. Accompanied by musician Tim
O’Keefe and vocalist Maryam Yusefzadeh (both members
of the Persian music ensemble Robayat), Mistry deftly tells
the ancient story through a dozen different characters. One
moment he is the young warrior Rustum, the next a petty official,
then the ancient warrior Sohrab – interpreted as a crabby
map seller in modern Bombay.
Mistry is the Artistic Producing Director of the Center for
Independent Artists. He has an MFA in Theater from UC, San
Diego and a BA from Bennington College. As an actor, he has
performed with Lynn Redgrave in The Cherry Orchard
at the La Jolla Playhouse, in several plays as a company member
at the Guthrie Theater, and at the Mixed Blood Theater, where
he produced his original adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s
Haroun and the Sea of Stories.
A pre-performance lecture by Khurshid Rudina on Zoroastrian
will take place prior to each performance at 6:30 p.m. Born
and raised in Bangalore, India, Rudina has trained extensively
about the Zoroastrian religion, the customs and traditions
practiced by its followers, under the tutelage of Ervad Bamji
of Bangalore. She is an active organizer of cultural and social
gatherings for the Twin Cities’ Zoroastrian community.
Tickets for the performance are priced at $20 ($16 for members,
seniors and students) and may be purchased at the Asia Society
Box Office at 212.517.ASIA.
This program is co-presented with Center for Independent
Artists, in association with the Zoroastrian Associations
of the New York area. Major support for performances at Asia
Society is provided by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
The Asia Society is America’s leading institution dedicated
to fostering understanding of Asia and communication between
Americans and the peoples of Asia and the Pacific. A nonprofit,
nonpartisan educational institution, the Asia Society presents
a wide range of programs including major art exhibitions,
performances, media programs, international conferences and
lectures, and initiatives to improve elementary and secondary
education about Asia. The Asia Society is headquartered in
New York City, with regional centers in Washington, D.C.,
Houston, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Melbourne, Australia,
and representative offices in San Francisco, Manila and Shanghai.
For more information, contact the Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue,
New York, NY 10021. (212) 288-6400. (www.asiasociety.org).
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yrc 10/23/03 |
