The Tutor
Torange Yeghiazarian
New Conservatory Theatre Center,
In Partnership with Golden Threads Productions
“Everyone knows that everyone is lying … Eventually you learn what you can get away with publicly, and the rest, you manage privately … It may seem like a lot to juggle; but practice, daily practice makes perfect,” declares the young Baran, soon after immigrating to Berkeley from Iran.
How many secrets, deceits, and downright lies can accumulate between three people who all claim to care and love the others before all hell breaks loose? If it is time to tell one’s truth, which truth is the right one to reveal; and which secrets still should remain private? And if the truth is your own truth of who you really are, how important is it to consider the costs– to you and/or others, near and far?
These are just a few of the intriguing, oft troubling, but always provocative questions explored in Torange Yeghiazarian’s The Tutor, now in a gripping, gusty world premiere as commissioned by New Conservatory Theatre Center in partnership with Golden Threads Productions. With an absolutely stunning cast of three under the finely honed intuition and insight of Sahar Assaf’s direction, NCTC’sThe Tutor explores how a series of webs both old and new woven between a Berkeley man; his newly married, Iranian wife; and his female best friend soon entangles all of them with no clear way how any of the three can break loose. That is especially true given the possible life-and-death consequences for loved ones enmeshed in Iran’s uprisings and crackdowns after the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini after her arrest for improper hijab. The complex mixture of attractions of convenience and of love along with their intertwined connections to a faraway world of arrests and torture makes The Tutora hold-your-breath must-see.
Fifty-six-year-old, software engineer Kayvon (Lawrence Radecker) has returned from his original homeland of Iran with a twenty-six-year-old bride – a marriage for his mother’s peace of mind since the sick elder has told her bachelor son that “her bags are packed” and that she knows she will likely soon die. But C-suite executive Kayvon has a necessary business trip to make immediately after the newly married couple’s arrival back in Berkeley; and he has solicited his best friend of forty years also originally from Iran – UC mathematics professor, Azar – to teach the young Baran “the ins and outs” about her new home, pleading with her, “You’re a teacher … Be her tutor.”
What neither he nor the reluctant but willing Azar (Debórah Eliezar) know is that Baran (Maya Nazzal) has never since childhood had any desire to be with a man. A trip to San Francisco’s Exploratorium will lead both she and Azar soon to discover that the student is quick to learn how to attract and conquer her tutor with just a sharing of a cup of mint tea.
A husband who is ecstatically happy – and immensely willing to be patient – with his new wife, a mistake in a mother’s death certificate, a long-hidden attraction by Azar for a non-interested Kayvon, a push by Azar for Baran to tell a New York Times reporter about her life in Iran – all and more become further spins in a web that becomes ever more a trap that none of the three can easily escape.
As staged in the round of the Walker Theatre, we as audience are intimately privy to each sudden gasp and exasperated huff, to stare-down glares and subtle side glances alike as well as to a cheek now tear-stained and one later love-juice damp. All are within reach of our two rows of us as a surrounding audience who cannot help but be an active part of each expressed emotion, each evident lie, each gushed secret suddenly blurted aloud, especially when all are delivered by three, such talented cast members.
We as audience are also very much an integral part of Matt Owens’ deeply hued, beautifully conceived scenic design of Iranian, hung art and weavings. The apartments of Kayvon and Azar interweave among us along the arena’s short aisles and on the walls at our backs, with shelves full of Jenna Forder’s designed properties easily reached over our shoulders and a kitchen’s coffee counter just a few inches from nearby spectators. Maxwell Bowman’s projections and lighting flood the scene during the many scene changes with intricate, colored designs of Middle Eastern beauty while Kalon Thibodeaux surrounds us with the music one might hear in the coffee houses of Tehran.
Just as secrets never come into the open in any planned, logical manner, the playwright has cleverly sequenced scenes in a time-tripping manner. Scenes jump backward and forward with no announced indication of where they fit into the overall storyline except though hints given in dialogue. Again, we as audience become active members of the story, piecing together who knew what when; and yet, the script is so deftly constructed that never are we confused how to piece the next part of the puzzle together.
In the end, is there blame anywhere or everywhere? Is it mainly the fault of a horrific situation in Iran or of deceits much closer to home? Is there anyone who is not at fault and anyone who is not an innocent victim? Taking those questions home to further contemplate and decide is just another reason NCTC and Golden Thread’s partnered production of Torange Yeghiazarian’s The Tutor is definitely a world premiere not to be missed.
Rating: 5 E, MUST-SEE
A Theatre Eddys Best Bet Production
The Tutor continues through May 12, 2024, in a two-hour (one intermission) production by New Conservatory Theatre Center (in partnership with Golden Threads Productions) in the Walker Theatre, 25 Van Ness Avenue at Market Street, San Francisco, CA. Tickets are available online at https://nctcsf.org/, by box office phone at 415-861-8972, or by email at boxoffice@nctcsf.org.
Photo Credits: Lois Tema
