Let us Believe in the Beginning of the Cold Season

She lives inside the folds of the atlas, between two maps. Cradled, to the left, in Belgium; rooted to the right, in Iran. In between, a captivating no-man’s land, all hers. Theatre maker Sachli Gholamalizad [1982] impressed Boulevard audiences in 2016 and 2018 with her family histories A Reason to Talk and [Not] My Paradise. This summer she is adding nuance to visitors’ views of womanhood. Her musical tale Let us Believe in the Beginning of the Cold Season cuts definitions of ‘woman’ and ‘emancipation’ loose from the [Western] concrete they have been poured into. Sachli departs from songs, poetry, and research into two Iranian pioneers of womanhood: pop singer Googoosh [1950], who idolises her sexuality, and the modest poet Forough Farrokhzad [1934-1967].

Credits
Text and performance: Sachli Gholamalizad