The Dorset Ooser
Producing and performing a multimedia performance about shame in modern societies. turning my body into a witness to the crimes against humanity.
Project Overview
Dorset Ooser. It's a folklore English story; they were masks used to shame people if they had done something wrong. As the director, I decided to adapt the meaning behind this and turn it into modern concerns, how we are being shamed as individuals, as humans, and how the government and the societal norms are functioning as the Dorset Ooser mask. I also performed a section of this performance.
The Approach
Shame is a deeply sensitive emotion that we carry as human beings. Directing and producing a show about this emotion was a huge responsibility for me, because I didn’t want to tell my team how to feel about shame. Instead, I led them in a way that allowed them to direct their own performance.
I asked them, what is shame for you, and how can we turn that into movements on stage? The main ideas came from them, and I simply helped shape and polish those ideas.
We then developed the piece into a multimedia performance. We screened videos onto the props on stage, used live cameras, and incorporated live music in both Persian and English. Alongside this, the performance was driven by the use of the body and movement.
The Results
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By addressing the world issues that look so distant and far, geographically, we brought them together on one stage.
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People started having conversations about the issues that we brought up, and that was a really huge target for us achieved, to trigger conversations.