WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT by Nassim Soleimanpour

““77!” I yell out.”

Reviewer: Lee Min Jie
Performance: 13 January 2016

White Rabbit Red Rabbit is so masterfully crafted by Nassim Soleimanpour that I cannot help but participate actively.

I submit entirely to his entreaties. When there is a call to “Clap!” and I clap. “A little more!” and I clap until the applause dies down. This is how I, along with 168 other audience members, allow myself to be manipulated for an hour that evening.

The play thrusts the thorny issue of choice, or the lack thereof, and consequences in your face.

Everyone in attendance has a choice. To clap, to close our eyes, to number off, to sponsor a dollar, or even to leave the theatre.

But none of us opt to leave. We all choose to stay.

Yet choice is exactly the crux this play. Nassim refused to do military serve for 2 years in Tehran and the price of that was a passport that would have allowed him to travel the world.

His art becomes his passport to the world.

Arguably certain points are banal and belaboured but undeniably the play provides food for thought.

The solo performer Maimunah Bagharib is sincere and sprightly in her performance. This YouTube sensation is unafraid to be vulnerable and true to her feelings in the face of such a raw premise. Her sensitivity to text is what holds her in good stead when she falters in the beginning while sizing up the audience. Her impeccable comic timing sustains the laughs when her energy fizzles towards the end of her role. Maimunah’s bubbly personality sparkles occasionally, but enough for me to understand why her fans are so enamoured with her.

White Rabbit Red Rabbit is a play that will morph into different dimensions according to the delivery of the performer but it is Nassim’s words that will leave you thinking.