Coleen Shirin MacPherson’s Searching for Aimai becomes a one-hour, intense solo performance. Director Raha Javanfar’s vision is clear. By working closely with MacPherson (who plays Her), both artists ensure there is always a purpose behind every movement and every spoken word.
Her is pregnant (my guess is eight, going on nine months) and appears about to give birth. The audience learns the child’s sex. At the top of the show, after finishing a telephone conversation with possibly her husband/partner and the child’s father, Her breaks the fourth wall and speaks with the audience. She locks herself in the bathroom in a surreal attempt to reignite the sacred fire. She is pulled toward her great-great-grandmother, Aimai, in the process.
Speaking with uncertainty and a tinge of fear of the unknown, Her wonders how she can bring a child into the world – and teach her daughter to claim who she is – when Her’s connection to her ancestry feels fraught and diminished, reduced to tangled, half-erased threads of her mixed-race Irish and Persian (Iranian) lineage. Janice Jo Lee’s selection of pre-show music, mixing Persian and Western cultures, sharply underscores the concern Her will soon share with the audience.
The story unfolds in Her’s ultra-clean, sparkling-tiled bathroom, brightly lit by Lilian Adom’s design, which makes some of the floor tiles glisten under the lights. Set Designer Shannon Lea Doyle has recreated a functional-looking bathroom. There’s a toilet stage right, a giant tub upstage centre, and a bathroom vanity and mirror on stage left. Doyle also includes necessary bathroom fixtures, such as a large towel and items under the sink. Laura Warren’s Projection Designs are crisp and sharp. As Her experiences labour contractions, Lee and Warren aptly time their projection and sound together, highlighting the importance of what is happening to the woman.
Coleen Shirin MacPherson delivers this riveting solo performance with dignity and class, clearly evident as she lights bathroom candles and sets them down, creating an eerie, otherworldly effect. Her confusion and frustration about her mixed-race lineage might initially seem somewhat misguided, as the fear of giving birth remains paramount.
Nevertheless, pay close attention to the subtext beneath what MacPherson, as Her, says with conviction. She raises valid questions about birth, assimilation into culture, and the permeating changes that may ultimately take hold of the child. So much so that my guest and I continued the conversation for a few minutes after seeing the final image projected and MacPherson’s well-deserved curtain call. We had seen a terrific production of Anusree Roy’s Through the Eyes of God, now on stage at Theatre Passe Muraille, which deals with another mother’s story of deep integrity and unselfish love.
The Cahoots press release states that Searching for Aimai marks Raha Javanfar’s anticipated debut as a theatre director.
I look forward to seeing her work and vision on stage.
Recommend Searching for Aimai.
Running time: approximately one hour with no intermission.
The production runs to March 1 in the BMO Incubator at The Theatre Centre, 1115 Queen Street West, Toronto. For tickets: cahoots.ca or call the Box Office at The Theatre Centre (416) 538-0988.
CAHOOTS THEATRE presents
Searching for Aimai
A Play by Coleen Shirin MacPherson
Directed by Raha Javanfar
Set & Props Designer: Shannon Lea Doyle
Lighting Designer: Lilian Adom
Sound Designer & Composer: Lilian Adom
Projection Designer: Laura Warren
Production Manager: Jadi Darawi
Producer: Samantha Vu
Associate Producer and Social Media Manager: Tessa Bourchier
Performer: Coleen Shirin MacPherson as Her
