♪♪ [Chanting] Where is my vote?
Where is my vote?
Where is my vote?
Where is my vote?
Where is my vote?
Where is my vote?
Disgrace!
Disgrace!
We're full!
We are the people!
We are the people!
[ Singers vocalizing ] Woman: I'm hoping that through this work, people can have a deeper understanding of what's happening in Iran -- the votes that were stolen, and the propaganda machine of the Islamic Republic regime that is very much at work right now as well.
♪ I hear the protests at night ♪ ♪ Did you see?
They said nothing happened ♪ ♪ What a lie ♪ ♪ The veils were everywhere ♪ Nourbakhsh: It was important for me to talk about the events that happened in 2009.
I can say that I've had many family and friends who've gone through horrifying situations.
I spoke with them and their real story was very much part of how the story came to be.
And it's important that we share the responsibility of what happens to people all around the world.
[ Singing in foreign language ] Man: The green fabric coming down, which is so important to the movement.
That visual that was the Green Movement of 2009.
So I wanted that to be everywhere.
For me, it was about listening to Nilo's music and moving our hearts at the rhythm of her music.
I'm just so thankful for all of the artists who were involved in this, and the piece could not come at a more prescient time.
It feels so special to be a part of the voice of the women of Iran who need the world to be their voice right now.
And so the piece just resonates at this really high level.
And I think that that is a testament, yes, to Nilo's work, but also to the desire for stories that are really important at, you know, a moment in history.
[ Instruments imitating explosions and gunfire ] To be in the story, especially in this venue, you know, you can feel the vibrations of our voice and see our faces so close up.
I hope that people were able to feel it.
[ Singing, cymbals crashing ] ♪♪ [ Wailing ] ♪ I want to see him, where is my husband?
♪ ♪ Where is my -- ♪ [ Muffled scream ] [ Gong resounds ] I'm sorry to tell you this, but your husband Siavash is dead.
Woman: I think people find it very easy to detach from a news report.
But a story stays with you.
With this piece, I really wanted to draw attention to the different ways people function within an authoritarian regime.
That you have the people who want to make a change.
You have the people who are stuck and frozen.
You have those who are working within the system and think they can do something right.
And you have those who are reveling in their power.
When you can communicate to someone and make them feel something, when you can tell them a story, it's a treasure.
♪ He was shot!
♪ ♪ By the State!
♪ ♪ Shot by the state ♪ Man: Stop!
You will make the statement as written!
♪ He was shot by the State ♪ Woman: It's not just about opera.
It's about our life right now and the importance of the music that we have in our life today.
The power of being together, no matter who we are, we are all together to try to create a good society for us and for the new generation.
National Sawdust presents a work of art that talks about the present, the past.
But more than anything else, there is the voice, the artistic voice; to me tonight, I'm very proud to be part of this specific production as a woman, as a woman in the arts, and as a woman looking for seeing the women's rights as a human rights.
With art, we can help to create a just world.
♪ I wanted a lifetime with you ♪ ♪♪ Nourbakhsh: It's incredible how brave this young generation is.
Incredible that there is teenage Iranian girls protesting at their school and knowing, like, that they're literally putting their lives on the line.
It goes back through to the very old tradition in Iran.
It has started as a movement after Mahsa Amini's death.
For me, the way that I understand it is that, is this all that you care about?
Really, this is -- this is how you are, like, willing to kill a person over this?
Well, I don't want it.
That's how I see it.
And I just wanted to tell a story that can really highlight the importance of truth and the importance of love and how that can really lead to the freedom of a nation.
And I would say women, life, freedom.
[ Applause ] ♪♪