by Shahin Sayadi
GCTC requires that all audience members show proof of vaccination status before entering the theatre. This policy extends to the end of the 2021-22 Season. See our COVID-19 Protocols here.
Ritual Music to Cure a Lover is the story of forbidden love, a family divided by long-held secrets, and a community trying to find balance between traditional ways and the modern world. The play culminates in a Zaar/Exorcism ceremony, intended to rid a young man of the “sickness” of his love for an outcast woman, that ultimately reveals a father’s long-buried secrets.
The show immerses audiences in the heat and passion of an isolated fishing village on the shores of the Persian Gulf, where rituals, music and family relations shape people's lives from birth to death. A modern-day love story rooted in ancient Iranian myths, it is a transformative storytelling experience.
Use of fog and haze.
Showtimes
Thurs, April 21 @ 8pm
Fri, April 22 @ 8pm
Sat, April 23 @ 4pm
Runtime
Approximately 70 minutes.
Accessibility
Ritual Music to Cure a Lover has no relaxed performances or ASL performances.
There is no accessibility pamphlet available.
Talkback
There will be a 15-minuite talkback in the 15 minutes prior to every performance.
Reviews
Mooney on Theatre
Deanne Kearney
"As the one-man performer, Sayadi is able to bring an entire world filled with different characters, as he simply and seamlessly shifts between them..."
The Way I See It Theatre Blog
Amanda Campbell
“… he is especially compelling as the female characters (which is so rarely the case for a male actor). He grounds both women in the play in respect and finds such simple and nuanced ways to shift between the characters."
Elissa Barnard
"It’s amazing what one man can do with cloth, music and light."
“… an enchantment of light and music with the basic pain of human experience."
Eric Abramian
“… (Ritual) is instilling hope for a better future where the new generation can live peacefully without the judgment and ill intentions of their predecessors.
“… reminding (us) a new future, without the freedom to think differently from the status quo, is perhaps more dangerous.