Sixto Rodriquez

Today, as I listened to Bob Edwards Weekend, I heard Sixto Rodriquez's voice, the American mysterious singer. Stunned by his profound sensibility, I listened to the entire interview. I could not hold my tears like Marcel Proust's Character in one of his novels, as he was listening to a classical music!

What makes  Rodriquez unique (in addition to his astonishing voice and lyrics) is his approach to art: the oneness of art and real life.

"Sixto Diaz Rodriguez (also known as Rodriguez or as Jesus Rodriguez; born July 10, 1942) is an American folk musician, born in Detroit, Michigan. He was named 'Sixto' (pronounced seex-tuh) because he was the sixth child in his family. Rodriguez's parents were middle-class immigrants from Mexico, who left in the 1920s. In most of his songs he takes a political stance on the cruelties facing the inner city poor."

Filmmaker Malik Bendjelloul captured his story and documented how the music of Rodriguez became the soundtrack for justice in South Africa throughout the country’s struggle with Apartheid.  Searching for Suger Man is now in limited release.
Read more on his official website. 

Listen to some of his songs!

Cause
I Think of You 
Rich Folks Hoax
Cold Fact
Crucify Your Mind 
Inner City Blues
I Wonder 
Sandrevan Lullaby
Climb Up My Music

Earthquake in Iran

A strong earthquake in North West of Iran killed over 180 people so far....

My Name is Inanna

My play "My Name is Inanna" will be read at 9th International Women Playwrights Conference in Stockholm, Sweden in August 16.

An Interview with one of Persian radios  in Stockholm.

'Where is Augsburg?

Bertolt Brecht

'Where is Augsburg?
The city which is silent
About its great son'.

"Fascism!" It's a translataion of Bertolt Brecht's speech at the International Writers' Congress, Paris -1935.

The Pearl fishers by Georges Bizet

The Pearl fishers by Georges Bizet
"Ceylan, centuries ago. Young priestess Leila sings her love, alone at night in a ruined temple. She feels comforted by the presence in her heart only of her beloved Nadir, a presence which watches over her, protects her and reassures her. A nice example of interiorised love. The only one in the operatic world, as far as I can recall. This is why I like this extremely demanding cavatina.

Legacy of Georges Bizet, 1838-1875, from his opera´les pêcheurs de perles` (the pearl fishers). Première:Theatre Lyrique du Chatelet 1863. Libretto by Eugene Cormon and Michel Carré. "

Lakmé Delibes

One more time: Lakme

L'opéra imaginaire - Lakmé Delibes or The Flower Duet

Brecht's theatre

Bertolt Brecht on Stage (1)
 (2)
(3)

Writer’s Block

“That famous writer’s block is a myth as far as I’m concerned. I think bad writers must have a great difficulty writing. They don’t want to do it. They have become writers out of reasons of ambition. It must be a great strain to them to make marks on a page when they really have nothing much to say, and don’t enjoy doing it. I’m not so sure what I have to say but I certainly enjoy making sentences.”
Gore Vidal

Plays on Mass Shootings in U.S.A

In a mass murder, Lu Gang the Chinese physics student at the University of Iowa killed five professors -- including himself – and injured seriously Miya Rodolfo-Sioson, the lone survivor of the November 1,1991 shooting. (Miya died of cancer a few years ago.)Three of the victims were on his dissertation committee. Letters he left indicated that he shot them because they did not think highly enough of his dissertation.

This video has made as a tribute to the victims of the massacre.

I was a student at the Playwiting Workshop at Theatre Department when this shooting happened. Effected by the painful occurrence, I wrote a docu- drama based on this incident. My play is a discovery through Lu Gang’s internal life. Mad as the Blood Sound (Gang LuBought Two Guns) has been read at The Women’s Project in New York, directed by Elaine Smith, at Room 41 in Chicago by Hannah Gale and Victory Garden by Dana Freidman. 

Here is a scene of  Gang Lu Bought Two Guns at The Daily Palette or  “Mad as the Blood Sound).

I wrote another play “Romeo and Juliet in the Dark Alleys of Tehran and Labyrinthine Corridors of Columbine High School” on Colorado Columbine shooting, an analysis of teenage life in the U.S. and Iran which had one reading in Chicago in 2000.

Crime in Chicago

My thoughts have been occupied with this horrible news for several weeks! What our children's life will be look like tomorrow?

No to War!

No to War!

Vivian Maier

Vivian Maier, a remarkable photographer, a mystery...My  double!

She lived with her shadow...
Although she had so much to say, but lived gracefully with the poetry of silence...
In her living days,  no one had ever noticed her for who she really was...and now....

 See some of  her photographs...

Goodbye Gore Vidal

Gore Vidal chose his grave and his long life partner's grave to be near his childhood sweetheart.

A wall around a rooftop in Dezful

A wall around a rooftop in Dezful...
Photo by:

CRAVE at The Blind Owl

The Blind Owl a Chicago based theatre company will bring Sarah Kane’s CRAVE on stage in August. "CRAVE embodies everything The Blind Owl holds to be vital to theatre; truly poetic language, a script that demands an ensemble at all times, and no emotional boundaries in rehearsal or performance. Crave is a play about the unconscious demons we all try to smother. It's about the pain of being human and how connection with another is the only escape."

 Actors: Marielle de Rocca-Serra (M), Gabi Mayorga (C), Jared Lorenzo (B), and Tibor Radvanyi (A)

Designers: Noah Hayman (lights), Jack Hawkins (sound), Cara Adams (costumes), and Lesley Jackson (set) Production team: Azar Kazemi (director), Elizabeth Thomas (assistant director), Leah Raidt and Colin Sphar (digital marketing), Melanie Plank (poster design), Patricia Lavery (print marketing), C. Dylan Plummer (kick starter campaign manager), Will Gillespie (video director), Morgan Madison (video editor), Sam Benediktson and Heather Kinion (development), Elizabeth Fiala (company stage manger), Julian Grant (camera operator), and Barry Brunetti (production advisor)

Horror Hospital in Kabul

Democracy Now: "Are you surprised by the Congressional probe revealing abuse at a U.S.-funded hospital in Kabul? The investigation reveals a top U.S. general in Afghanistan sought to stall an investigation into the hospital that kept patients in “Auschwitz-like” conditions. Whistleblowers revealed photographs taken in 2010, which show severely neglected, starving patients at Daoud Hospital. We speak to Michael Hastings, contributing editor at Rolling Stone and a reporter for BuzzFeed, who has been following the story closely."