Behind the Tent

In Brazil, the actresses later tell me, women stormed the tent, crowding in to complain about the pressure they feel to expose their bodies. In South Korea, no one budged. Here in Düsseldorf, the heart of Germany’s extroverted Rheinland, a man strides confidently onto the stage. After some scrambling, he is granted entrance and the zipper closes behind him. Helena Waldmann cheers loudly from the back of the theatre.

During rehearsals in Iran, the censors had come and gone, a silent presence at the back of the hall. Waldmann assumed she was on safe ground until the dress rehearsal, one day before the festival opening, when eight bearded men appeared. As they conferred afterward, Waldmann, unable to bear the suspense, walked up and asked what they thought. Why tents, they wanted to know.

A new dance began. Waldmann described with wonderment her first impression of Tehran. Nomads, victims of the Bam earthquake, people offering provisional services — all living in or working out of tents. The censors accepted this explanation, but had two def- inite objections to the performance: the singing (Iranian law prohibits women from singing alone) and the tight clothing and erotic movements of the dancing shadow. Waldmann was able to negotiate twenty seconds of singing, then, to fix the projection, had her video artist spend the night at the computer dressing the shape in pyjamas and making its movements jerkier — more in the limbs, less in the chest and hips. The next evening, Tehran saw a slightly clumsy digital shadow instead.

The actresses know that the Iran they will return to would not have tolerated their show. Since the “Letters from Tentland” tour began, the country has elected a new, conservative president and the director of the Dramatic Arts Centre has been fired. Some speculate quietly about the possibility of landing in jail when they go back.

Sara Reyhani, twenty-five, takes long drags of a cigarette. “In Iran,” she says, “we lead two lives, one inside and one outside. Here in Europe, it’s all outside. The freedom you have here is probably more natural. But maybe the hardship we suffer in Iran makes us focus on the important things.” She looks down, admiring the cowboy boots she bought earlier that day.

Later that night, Reyhani and some of the other actresses go out on the town. They walk through the streets of Düsseldorf in the rain, stopping at a snack bar to eat German fries and watch all the people. It’s past midnight and they are outside.