Girl.
Woman.
Female.
Sia-Sar.
The Black Head.

How long…
How many lifetimes…
have we been trained, shaped, conditioned—since the dawn of history—
to hide?

To hide our faces.
To hide our bodies.
To hide our voices.
To hide our names.
To hide our very existence.

Oh Man…
If only… if only you were brave enough to listen.
Oh Father…
If only… if only you were brave enough to turn your gaze inward.
Oh Brother…
If only… if only you were brave enough to confront the world inside yourself.

Oh Man…
If only… if only you were brave enough to admit,
instead of burning me…
instead of burying me under the stones…
instead of forcing me to vanish beneath your fear.

I am here. I exist. I will not disappear.

Masks Under the Burka

Playwright & Director: Monirah Hashemi
Performers: Fariba Baqeri, Azar Mahdawi, Rahela Rezaie, Monirah Hashemi
Performed at: Women Playwrights International Conference, Stockholm, 2012