Review: HäR VILAR SHIMA NIAVARNI I FRED /THIS IS WHERE SHIMA NIAVARANI REST IN PEACE at Kulturhuset Stadsteatern

“Welcome to a requiem from the collapse. Perhaps it’s a farewell. Perhaps a boys’ choir. Perhaps a techno rave. Perhaps the breakdown has never been more fun.” This is how the performance—by and featuring Shima Niavarani—is presented on the City Theatre’s website.

A solo show structured like a requiem—complete with its various movements—it begins with a choir projected onto a glittering curtain, seemingly performing a farewell to Shima. But then, after a moment, it is clarified: she isn’t dead after all. Shima enters, wearing a purple, slightly girlish dress, and sings "Non, je ne regrette rien." She jumps down from the stage and launches into a monologue about how she had considered giving the audience a "high five"—but then didn't quite dare. What if something had gone wrong? How might the rumors have spread? Could it have spiraled into a story debated on social media, morphing into something entirely different?

From there, her train of thought and observations drift toward new topics—subjects seemingly unrelated to what came before, yet woven together in a natural, organic progression. Over the course of one hour and forty-five minutes, she covers a wide range of contemporary social issues and global events—a mix of the trivial and the profound—touching on everything from social media and the pressure to conform to beauty standards, to feminism, and even a proposal to build a new holiday resort atop mass graves in Gaza, simply because the location by the sea is so lovely. Her descriptions are razor-sharp and cleverly crafted; they invite laughter, yet that laughter often catches in the throat, stifled by the absurdly realistic nature of what is being recounted. While none of this is technically "news," it feels immediate and gripping when presented in this way—delivered by a petite, innocent-looking young woman who articulates every single word with piercing, razor-sharp precision.

Photo: Leonard Stenberg

The transitions between the different parts of the requiem are marked by both projected text and a newly composed song—a brief pause for breath to process what has just been heard. Throughout the performance, one cannot help but be impressed by her ability to recall all the lyrics, which are so brilliantly put together—observations that are impossible to ignore.

A thought-provoking solo show that captivates, fascinates, and surprises. Shima holds the audience under her spell, never letting go until the house lights come back on.

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