Masahat Kulturnatt: Storytelling as Resistance

Masahat and Nordic Black Theatre invite you to an evening of stories and melodies against oppression.

Inspired by One Thousand and One Nights, writer and performer Madihe Gharibi presents a continuous, spoken story in dialogue with live music by flautist Hamed Mohsen Nezhad weaving tales worthy of Scheherazade from modern-day Iran and Afghanistan.

In the original tale, Scheherazade is condemned to death by the king, like every woman brought before him each night. She refuses her fate; postponing her death night after night by telling stories, always leaving a thread the king’s curiosity won’t let him abandon. For one thousand and one nights, she survives through storytelling alone.

This evening reimagines that act of defiance and survival as performed by many dissidents fighting repression. Between narration and live music, Storytelling as Resistance asks what it means to keep on witnessing and speaking when silence is what’s being demanded.

This program has been updated since it was first announced.