ECHO (EVERY COLD-HEARTED OXYGEN)

 

Echo (Every Cold-Hearted Oxygen)

Conceived by Nassim Soleimanpour. Directed by Omar Elerian. The Playhouse. Canberra Theatre Centre. July 24-26 2025. Bookings: 62752700 or canberratheatrecentre.com.au

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

The publicity for Echo (Every Cold-Hearted Oxygen) invites audience to expect the unexpected in an evening  of suspense, surprise and unforgettable theatrical magic. It all begins innocently enough.  A video screen projects the audience as they enter the auditorium. On stage is a table with a laptop, a large screen to the side of the rear projection screen and a Persian rug on the floor.  The stage manager Charlie enters with the camera and moves to a tripod on the stage. He attaches the camera and moves into the wings. The scene is set for the actor to enter.  At each of the four performances a different actor will take to the stage. Tonight it is Australian/Lebanese/Syrian actor Fayssal Bazzi. He has been given no script. The evening’s performance is completely unrehearsed. Neither actor nor audience knows what is about to unfold. What does unfold is an intriguing theatrical innovation. The unsuspecting audience is about to be astounded by Bazzi’s unrehearsed immersion in Nassim Soleimanpour’s  story of his life as an Iranian refugee living in Berlin.

Fayssal Bazzi  actor

It is the unexpected, the unknown and the unpredictable that fascinates, captures the imagination and excites the curiosity. It is the element of surprise that lures the audience into an evening of unique theatre.  Unexpectedly Soleimanpour appears on the video screen behind Nazzi. His smile invites friendly reassurance.  He gently guides Bazzi through the play, feeding Bazzi’s dialogue through earphones and inviting the actor to meet his wife as she cooks the Persian dish, greet his dog Echo, peruse the family photos upon the wall and learn the significance of the woven carpet, the symbol of home and one of a few cherished possessions that he was able to bring with him after his flight from Iran. The conversation is relaxed, jovial and illuminating. Soleimanpour is the philosopher playwright, torn from his homeland. “If you are born in Iran you are always Iranian.” He exists between two worlds. In one hand he holds his German passport. In the other his Iranian. “We are all immigrants in time, travelling through time from the past to the present to the future.” It is the philosopher who comprehends the bond that all humanity shares. The irony is that tonight’s performance is presented by a refugee from the Lebanese Civil War. The shared experience is palpable and heightens the emotional impact of the evening’s performance.

 

Nassim Soleimanpour  playwright

No one performance will be the same. The evening’s re-enactment of Soleimanpour’s family’s  suspenseful interaction with an Iranian immigration official assumes a heightened poignancy with Bazzi’s family story of displacement. And yet in Time’s transcience there will always be hope. The friendship bracelet made by a young girl to help Soleimanpour discover himself when feeling lost is symbolic of the bond that exists between us all. As the amazing imagery swirls through the projected firmament  upon the screen Soleimanpour’s play is revealed as a message of hope. Change is the essence of Time and in the unrehearsed experience of Life it is the bond of friendship that unites us.

Bazzi moves to the desk and picks up the envelope as Soleimanpour watches him open it and reach inside. He draws out a letter from the playwright and a small token of their new-found friendship. Blackout!

What may have appeared a random act of improvisation becomes a very tightly orchestrated drama, which touches us all. It is about each individual’s unique experience and the connection that bonds us together and offers hope. It is unexpected. It is unpredictable. It is at times suspenseful and tense. It is an offering of hope. And for those fortunate enough to experience it, each different performance of Echo (Every Cold-Hearted Oxygen) offers audiences an evening of theatrical magic.