In a workshop on playwriting some years ago, Michael Shayan was instructed by the leader, noted dramatist Luis Alfaro, to put a hand over his heart, to feel the heartbeat of a character – and to “just listen.”

The voice he heard was one Shayan had known all his life. It was that of his remarkable Jewish-Iranian mother, Roya.

Writing about one’s mom is not an easy exercise – though many playwrights (and other scribes) have been moved to do it. And immigrant parents often have fascinating stories to tell.

Roya is one such colorful and extraordinary person. And her relationship with her son is both close and complex, as many parent-child kindships are. So that assignment eventually blossomed into the critically acclaimed new play, Avaaz, which comes to Denver Center Theatre Company this fall marking the beginning of a national tour following sold-out runs in Maryland and Southern California.

At a time in American politics when immigration can be a fraught subject, Avaaz can remind us why newcomers seek refuge in America – and how much they contribute to our own culture, especially  through their accomplished children. “It’s an honor to take Avaaz across the country, particularly at a time of overwhelming anti-immigrant sentiment,” says Shayan. “Avaaz offers a different narrative and grapples with complex truths in a fabulous, decadent party on stage.”

“Avaaz,” in Farsi and several other languages including Hindu and Urdu, means (aptly) “voice” or “song,” more specifically “a song as it is being sung.” And to portray her in this solo theater piece, Shayan adopts his mother’s unique voice, her love of Iranian culture, her bitter and sweet memories in her homeland and adopted country.

Avaaz proved to be not just a great vehicle for Shayan the actor-playwright (he has also worked as an Emmy-nominated screenwriter and television producer) but also an opportunity to learn more about the woman who raised him through his interviews with her for the play.

Avaaz was also a chance to meld his mother’s extravagant humor and joy with a serious exploration of the hardships Roya faced as a political refugee, the difficulties and rewards of raising her son after departing an abusive marriage with his father, and the challenges of accepting Michael’s open homosexuality.

What first beguiled Denver Center Theatre Company Artistic Director Chris Coleman about Avaaz, however, was Shayan’s comic flair.

“I saw Avaaz in its world premiere at South Coast Repertory, and I had no idea what to expect,” recalls Coleman. “At first, I just thought it was hilarious. Michael has standup comedian skills, and was ridiculously funny.”

But as the show unspooled, continues Coleman, “I realized how political and poignant it is too. That was tucked so deftly inside the humor, you were happy to digest it.”

Coleman’s admiration for Avaaz and decision to share it with Denver theatergoers in DCTC’s 2024/25 season, spurred his own research into the history of ancient Persia and its modern equivalent, Iran. Though Denver has a relatively small Iranian community (current estimates are about 10,000 of them in the Denver metro area), he tapped into it via discussions with investor-philanthropist and Denver Center for the Performing Arts Board member David Jacques Farahi, whose Jewish family also hails from the country.

“Jews have been in Iran for several thousand years,” notes Coleman. “Actually, most of us in America know little about Iran, other than from current news headlines. We don’t know what it’s like to live there, how deep the intellectual and literary community is, how old the culture is, or the Jewish community’s place in the country’s history.”

Avaaz alludes to all of that, beginning with the spread of foods, flowers and cultural objects arrayed on an eye-popping set created by Tony Award-winning Broadway designer Beowulf Boritt, and with Roya’s flowing brocade robes, an Iranian-style garment designed by Emmy winner Joshua “Domino”  Schwartz. The production is helmed and directed by the celebrated Tony Award-nominated director Moritz von Stuelpnagel (I Need That, Hand to God).

A witty, elegant woman, Roya graciously invites the audience into this decorous environment to celebrate Nowruz with her. She explains that Nowruz is a traditional New Year’s holiday observed for centuries each spring (by Iranians, but also by people in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Kurdish Iraq and other nations). She’s prepared a larger-than-life celebration that features music, dancing, storytelling, as well as symbolic foods laid out in a ritual arrangement called a haft-sin.

As the play unfolds, Roya waits for her son to show up (they haven’t been on good terms recently, she confesses). She speaks of fleeing to the United States as a young adult and finding refuge in an area of Los Angeles where many Iranian expats have settled – nicknamed, aptly, “Tehran-geles”. She describes urging her mother to also depart Iran for America, with Roya’s siblings. And she jokes about the culture adjustments and culture clashes she encountered in her new country.

With little money, Roya and Michael shared a small L.A. apartment in Westwood. In the only bedroom, they slept on twin beds “so close we could feel each other breathe” and studied together as they each pursued their educational goals.

But that bond was tested once Michael grew up and came out as a gay man. Roya’s pride in his attending Harvard University and becoming a professional actor-writer, was tempered by her difficulty in fully accepting his queerness.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Shayan called the play “every gay man’s dream… or nightmare, depending on how you feel about your mother.”

Shayan doesn’t glide over the difficulties in their relationship. But it is clear that, despite the tensions and differences, their fondness for one another remains. Avaaz offers a fresh, new perspective on mother-son dynamics that is both specific and deeply universal; it’s one we rarely see on stage.

At the performance of Avaaz he attended, Coleman got a look at the real-life Roya – a glamorous woman, Sheri Rabeie, who has a successful career as an engineer.

The play, says Coleman, “is a success story. It’s about somebody who against enormous odds comes to this country, and builds a life. It’s enormous fun, and we can learn from it. But it’s not a lecture. It’s a discovery.”

DETAILS
Denver Center Theatre Company presents the Olney Theatre Company production of
Avaaz
Oct 4-Nov 17 • Singleton Theatre
Tickets