greeted with less than favorable reviews.
The play is being staged at the Celebration Theater through April 4.
Written by Jay Paul Deratany and directed by Michael Matthews, the play is based on a true story about the trial of two Iranian teenagers in Mashhad in 2005. The dates, names and story frame are factual, but the exact trial story and the boys’ side stories were concocted, as no one knows what really happened inside the courtroom.
Two 15-year-old boys, Ayaz Marhouni (played by Tamer Aziz) and Mahmoud Asgari (played by Narendra “Andy” Gala) sidle into young adulthood while struggling with their Arab Iranian identities. In the rising action, Mahmoud’s father heavy-handedly beats his son. Ayaz tells Mahmoud to remove his shirt and lie on a bed so that he can treat Mahmoud’s wounds.
A peer who is jealous and suspicious of Ayaz’s access to higher education, Fareed (Michael Tauzin), accuses Ayaz of sexual assault. The boys are put under the scrutiny of a court. Fareed is pressured into delivering false testimony, thus dooming the boys to a sentence for the “sin” of homosexuality. The international press makes a ruckus, and the judge increases the charge to “rape of a younger man.”
Deratany said, “This play is about exposing the human rights violations being committed on a daily basis; therefore, I will be donating a significant portion of the profits from this play to Amnesty International for the aid and assistance to Iranians who suffer from torture and injustice.”
Haram Iran is not a critique of the Muslim faith; it is a critique on extremist followers and the ways dogmatic theocracy can pervert a justice system.
The play has received lukewarm reviews, with most critiques commenting on how the trial scenes are too melodramatic to be powerful. The judges’ religious zeal becomes comical. However, Variety critic Bob Verini said, “The production values are solid.”
“Cricket Myers’ sound design combining with the actors’ accents … create a believably exotic atmosphere,” he said.
