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Maa Jaasoos Neesteem
by Nazy Kaviani09-Nov-2008
Berkeley Lecture Series had sponsored a very special show in Berkeley last night. Mansour Taeed’s one-man-show, Bahai Faith 101 was staged in Berkeley’s Gaia Center. Mansour Taeed is one of our most understated local celebrities. Graduating in Physics from UC Berkeley and San Francisco State University, and almost earning a Ph.D. from Columbia before realizing he wanted a career in theater, he went on to become an actor and a director [Darvag & Javane]. Twenty seven years past his first theater work, he is a brilliant actor, an excellent director, and a wonderful citizen of our community. As he wanted to tell the world last night, Mansour Taeed is also a Bahai.
His solo show which started by his symbolically stepping out of a closet at the beginning of the play was a very touching tale. Mansour took us through his childhood in a middle-class Bahai family in Tehran, talking about what it meant to be a member of a minority faith even back then. His sweet and funny tales of his having to wear glasses and be teased by his classmates for it, his first love at 14, and the weekly classes of “Dars-e-Akhlaagh,” where he learned about being a Bahai took the audience on an emotional tour.
Through the close to 2 hours of his reminiscences and funny and sad tales, he managed not so much to demystify the Bahai faith for us, although we did get a pretty good account of life as a Bahai. What Taeed managed with flying colors, all the while making us laugh and cry with him, was not to tell us what made him different from the rest of us, but the millions of ways in which we are similar.
At the heart of his stellar performance, when he was done talking about how his family had been affected by the mistreatment and persecution of Bahais after the revolution, Taeed reminded us all of how much he loves Iran, and how every inch of that land and every one of its people are forever a part of his identity. The most poignant line of his touching performance was when interspersed in his monologue at the end, he repeatedly said: “Maa Jaasoos Nisteem,” and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
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I was skeptical...but
by faryarm on Sun Nov 09, 2008 03:51 PM PSTI had heard about Mansour's work, and having seen only a cheesy short clip, which in retrospect is not representative of body of his latest work.
At first i was taken aback and was rather skeptical and regretfully , very critical of his approach. For this I owe him an apology.
However, it seems his work and approach have a much wider depth and dimension in introducing such Taboo a subject to Iranians at large.
From the images, the glowing remarks together with what I remember from Mansour's wicked sense of humour, its easy to concur with the sentiments expressed here.
I look forward to seeing the production, and wish this childhood buddy well.
faryar
I got it!
by Nazy Kaviani on Sun Nov 09, 2008 03:16 PM PSTI got Mr. Massombagi's humor and he is spot on! :)
There is so much we need to learn as a nation and as a large community in diaspora. Some of us are still fighting against even the most elementary levels of tolerance. I second what Jahanshah said by saying that if and when we are past the stage of tolerance, we have to proceed to acceptance of each other. We will not be a successful community if infighting and name calling and accusations are how we approach those who think and believe differently than us.
Thank you, Jahanshah, for the chance to share our experiences and reflections with others as we all struggle to find that common ground where we are all Iranians who love Iran and want what is best for it without fear of attacks, labels, accusations, and persecution. The only way to that common ground is through tolerance, acceptance, and respect for all.
:o))))
by Jahanshah Javid on Sun Nov 09, 2008 02:45 PM PSTAsghar! I'm not sure everyone will get your sarcasm, but... :o))))
Oops! He did it again!
by Asghar_Massombagi on Sun Nov 09, 2008 02:29 PM PSTYet another pro-IRI piece on the front page of Iranian.com. Mr. Javid, at long last, have you no shame?
Groundbreaking
by Jahanshah Javid on Sun Nov 09, 2008 01:46 PM PSTI was not there to see this production, unfortunately. But I want to congratulate Mansour Taeed for this brave and provocative effort.
Hating Bahais just for being Bahais is no longer cool. Enough non-Bahais have realized this. If Americans can pick a Black president, Iranians can start accepting Bahais as human beings with the same rights as everyone else, too!
Thank you Nazy for documenting what I believe is a groundbreaking production.
Nazy Jaan
by ebi amirhosseini on Sun Nov 09, 2008 01:30 PM PSTSepaas for sharing.