Kayhan Irani, a graduate of the High School of Performing Arts (“Fame”), is an artivist living and working in New York City. Her one-woman show, “We’ve Come Undone” has been traveling North America for over a year bringing immigrant women's stories to a wider audience. She has performed the show at a wide range of venues such as college and university campuses, theater festivals, at NGO and other organizational fundraisers and even at Burning Man. Excerpts have aired on WBAI (Pacifica Radio) in New York and Voice of America (an international multimedia broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government in over 55 countries). She is an enthusiastic practitioner of Theater of the Oppressed, which is a participatory form of theater for social change, and facilitates workshops and programs for many diverse organizations and institutions some of which are The Riverside Church, Communities of Faith for Housing, International Rescue Committee, Arab Women Active in the Arts and Media, South Asian Youth Action, Barnard College, Suffolk Law School and has lead workshops in Iraq with Childhood’s Voices and Happy Families, two organizations teaching and healing children through the arts. Kayhan seeks to use theater to activate and educate audiences and transform society.

You attended the high school for the performing arts here in New York, which says to me that you were serious about this from an early age. Do you remember the moment when knew you wanted to be an actor?

Though I was serious about acting from a young age, I cannot pinpoint a moment when I knew that I wanted to be an actor. Performing was something I was always surrounded by and active in. In elementary school, not only was I in school plays and such, but I was writing plays and skits to put on as part of class work. My best friend and I would try to adapt any assignment into a skit or performance and I was blessed to have tolerant and open teachers who let me explore in this way. I would create pageants to put on for my friends and characters and even whole sit-coms. Performing and creating was part of me and I was part of it, there was no way I could live my life any other way.

How did the high school for the performing arts differed from a regular high school? Do you feel you were well prepared for a career in showbiz?

Performing Arts is definitely different from a regular high school. In addition to regular academic studies, students have to take a full load of courses in their artistic major. As a drama major, I had four academic subjects and four artistic ones. A regular schedule would look like: drama/scene study for 2 periods, voice and diction, and makeup. Then math, English, social studies and a language. Very often I would also stay after school to work on a scene with scene partners or as part of a larger production.

The school definitely readies you for a career in the arts as it provides comprehensive training, as well as the tough talk about how the business really operates. No one is told they are a star and they can make it, you constantly hear how 90% of actors earn a living doing other things, like waiting tables. They don’t coddle you.

Do you have role models, actors or otherwise?

I admire the strength and complexity of everyday people. Senior citizens are a particular source of joy and admiration for me as they have lived so long and always have so much to tell you. I love to hear about simple stories of struggle and compassion and sacrifice. I think I am sentimental in many ways and get carried away by other people’s stories.

My parents are a great source of inspiration as well since they have worked very hard so that I may live an exuberant, colorful, and somewhat unstable life. In coming to America from India, they chose to live a life that would be more meaningful for their children than themselves, but I guess if your children are so important to you, then seeing them fulfill their destiny is ultimately satisfying and meaningful.

What frustrates you about life as an actor? What are the greatest challenges you must overcome?

Just being an actor on a set or as part of a production can be very limiting, especially if you have a regimented director. I enjoy exploring and working as a group with the cast, and if the director has a single vision, sometimes you just have to be a drone and follow orders.

Also, the vulnerability of the business is hard. If an important offer comes your way, you have to jump and leave everything else. That can be really frustrating if you want to have some structure and agency over the course of your life. If you want to branch out and try other things, it limits your ability to commit to things.

What do you love about acting? What keeps you going when things are tough?

What I love about it is the freedom of expression, the rigor of applying yourself to a project and almost living in a parallel universe for that time. I love the delicacy of creating something new, the fragility of it and then the power of presenting it to the world.

You recently traveled to Iraq and spent time working there. Can you describe what you were doing and how you came across this opportunity?

I went to Iraq in late January to early February of 2004. It was with a delegation organized by Code Pink, an organization of women for peace. They had sent many delegations before and after the war and I was interested in going as this one dealt with the status of women and children under the occupation.

I felt I needed to go and see the situation with my own eyes, and I wanted to introduce people there to Theater of the Oppressed, as I did. It was very hard to be there and feel as if you represent this force that is destroying people’s lives, however everyone I met was loving and kind and generous, even though they had so little.

Kayhan with some new Iraqi friends

There are clearly dangers in traveling to a war zone. What motivated you to do that? How did the experience change you?

There were dangers but I felt comfortable as Code Pink had brought many delegations to Iraq without incident. It did change me as of course you realize how guarded and sanitized the media is treating the issues in Iraq. There are so many things going on, and the media never shows real Iraqis, their concerns, their struggles, what is on their minds, how are they coping. It is only militants, Iraqi officials or US officials. All of whom are a minority compared to everyday people, and all don’t have the people’s best interests at heart.

I really saw how poorly the war is handled and how the rebuilding is a joke. I could sense the frustration. It was hard but good. I made friends there that I still keep in touch with.

Tell me about Theater of the Oppressed... how was it developed, and how and where it is used?

Theater of the Oppressed is a participatory form of theater for social change and was developed in Brazil, in the 1960s, by director and activist Augusto Boal. He sought to create a theater that could go beyond the normal theater that preached to the people. He found that theater could be an immensely powerful tool in helping people uncover the root of their oppression and find ways to overcome it.

Basically in the course of acting on stage and examining problems, people are learning new ways to act in real life. The hope is that people will take what they learn inside the theater and apply it to their real lives.

How did you become involved with this type of theater, and what do you love about it?

I was working on a performance of “The Maids” by Jean Genet and the director brought in a Theater of the Oppressed practitioner to work with the cast. By doing some of the exercises, I was immediately struck by the power of the technique and the subtle way we were able to analyze social ills through personal experiences. It is amazing what dialogue and discussion the technique can generate.

What I love about it is the way these exercises unify a group, focus on important issues, and are able to open the issues up for analysis in subtle and moving ways. People get out of their heads and into their bodies and tap into their creativity. This generates amazing ideas and thoughts and lets everyone connect to each other on a very deep level.

Working on image poses with a group

Some of the most thrilling moments are when you have a group of people who are able to think about an issue in a way they never have before, and it is almost unnoticed. They are going with it and creating and thinking together. It is magical. It is only after the session or in post-workshop discussions where people realize they did something totally new, that they would never consider doing, but they weren’t self conscious or uncomfortable.

How did you become qualified to run T.O. seminars? At what point did you feel you were ready to begin conducting them? How do you organize/promote the workshops, and on a practical level, is it a good way to help pay the bills?

There is no “official” qualifications one receives when learning and training in Theater of the Oppressed. It varies with who and where you go to to learn the skills. I learned with a private coach, who then let me apprentice as a co-facilitator at workshops at the Riverside Church in NYC. After about 6 months of co-facilitation I felt ready to branch out on my own and start leading by myself. The Theater of the Oppressed community is wonderful and the people doing this work are truly extraordinary in the way they continue to apply the work to all aspects of life.

I get bookings mostly through word of mouth. Because TO is so theoretical and heady, and appropriate for so many aspects of society, it is hard to have a concise pamphlet or brochure that can be a one size fits all type thing. Most people are moved by the workshops I hold and then go on to book me for other things they are involved with or refer me to people who then book me down the line. It has been quite helpful in paying the bills as this is the primary way I earn money.

Beyond social issues, could an actor use the games and techniques of T.O. to improve his or her acting skills? How can people learn more about it?

Actors can improve their skills through many of the TO games and exercises. Most are created to heighten sensory awareness, sight sound touch, and to focus concentration and sharpen reflexes. When doing the games with a cast, they are great for building group dynamics, trust, non-verbal communication and of course agility and greater use of the whole body.

Augusto Boal has written many books on Theater of the Oppressed, I would suggest “Games for Actors and Non-Actors” second edition as a good one to look at, not so theoretical and very user friendly.

Also in NY – The Brecht Forum Theater of the oppressed Laboratory has ongoing classes, they are a great group of people who head that up and interesting people from all over the world come to take classes there. I have been in workshops with people from the UK, Canada, even Australia. Augusto Boal also visits once of twice a year and leads some workshops.

You’ve had quite a lot of success with your solo show, We’ve Come Undone. Can you describe the show for me? What does the title mean?

We’ve Come Undone is a series of monologues, 6 different characters that are all dealing with immigration issues post 9/11. Not all the characters are immigrants, but in some way they are all affected by the special registrations, detention, deportation and bias that were instituted against Arab, Muslim and South Asians post- 9/11. It is told through women and girls’ eyes as they are often the silent victims of state imposed terror, the families and lives behind these easily demonized brown men.

The title refers to the fact that I feel our society is slowly unraveling because of the injustice perpetrated by this administration. I feel that hurtful and inhumane laws that are passed and carried out, in our name, make us all complicit in scapegoating and hatred. I want to explore what it means for us as a society to go down this slippery slope of repression and injustice. How does that change us as a society, how does one change as an individual, how do we get de-sensitized in some way to violence and inequality?

What was the inspiration for the show? What are you hoping to communicate, and to whom?

The inspiration for the show came from the fact that I had heard about these special registrations and was appalled and started to ask others about it. No one seemed to know anything or really care and that got me frightened. That coupled with a souvenir I found from the Holocaust Museum, which reminded me how the Jews were not just rounded up and killed right away, first came the erosion of their basic rights and their civil liberties, then came hate crimes and eventually, when they were seen as less than human, no one protested when they were sent off to die. I started thinking can this behavior be repeated? Have we learned anything or have we forgotten, as Hannah Arendt says, the banality of evil.

I want to show the humanity and the depth of those we are so quick to label and judge, even us on the left. I have a INS agent as one of the characters because I thought how easily we can demonize her as a beast, a racist, but how is she coping and dealing with everything that has been thrown at her. I was hoping to get a more mainstream crowd to come see the shows, as of yet I haven’t been very successful in marketing to the more conservative.

What are your goals for the show?

My goals would be to reach larger audiences who are not used to hearing this point of view, I’d like to be able to start dialogues with people who haven’t really weighed what does it mean to be secure as a nation, and what do we have to do to ensure our security. Does it mean scapegoating, because in the past that has never worked.

Can you describe the process of developing the show?

I started just by writing monologues, and then a friend suggested I develop it into into a full length performance. So I started seeing how the piece could be woven together. I work alone mostly, though for my first performance I had a few friends helping me to direct myself. I also gave the monologues to friends I trusted and asked them to read them and give me feedback. That was very helpful. In fact I recently re-wrote one of the monologues with the help of a friend I made after I performed in New Paltz, NY.

I first performed it at Chashama theater when it was on 42nd Street, it was great and I also worked with a choreographer and musician who are amazing.

What have been the greatest challenges of self-producing a show? Where have you performed the show, and what do you do to promote it?

The challenges in self promoting are to sell yourself. I feel strange writing a pitch for the show so I have friends again, help me. It is better if someone who has seen the show can help so that they can make suggestions as an audience member, that you cannot see as you are performing it. I have performed many places, from Burning Man in 2003, to theater festivals in Chicago, but mostly at colleges and universities. They have budgets and my show crosses many subject such as women’s issues, post 9/11 issues, middle-eastern/south asian issues. Many things so it can be promoted by many departments.

Do you prefer working solo or with other performers?

I prefer working with others so that our energies can inspire each other and we can feed off each other. Working solo is good in that you have the last word, you can truly do what you want and explore things that others won’t necessarily do. You also can present a character the way you see it, not have to rely on someone else’s interpretation. But it is lonely and I like to collaborate, as you can tell I have my friends totally in the process. But working with others does not always guarantee that they will have their hearts in the work and be as committed to it as you are, especially if it isn’t a guaranteed money maker. There is less chance that someone else will take the financial risks you would on your own work.

Many actors are solely focused on their jobs as entertainers, but you have chosen to use your skills for something more. In your opinion, what is the role of the artist in our society? Why is theater important?

I believe theater and the arts are an amazing way of transcending the here and now, this limited plane of existence, and connecting people to the possible, the great creative potential that exists in the universe.

Through theater and the arts people can see their world as different and can be inspired to change it, and if not change it then just think a bit differently about it. That is an amazing ability that can’t be achieved in such a short period of time by just talking to someone. It creates empathy and allows the individual to suspend their own judgments for a short period of time and feel what it might be like to be in someone else’s shoes. For me, this is the ultimate goal and I feel it is worth dedicating my life to reproduce that kind of theater.

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