This is Eavesdrop, a series of conversations between artists, playwrights and audience members. Today we listen in on a chat between actor Mehry Eslaminia and Debra Piver, a resident teaching artist at Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, about the upcoming production of Home in the Heart: An Adaptation for Students of Sandra Cisneros's "The House on Mango Street". The program will be presented February 1-10, 2017 at the Boulder Public Library. Get tickets here.
Debra
It is really nice to meet you, Mehry. You must be so excited to perform Home in the Heart, Megan Mathews’ adaptation of Sandra Cisneros’s “The House on Mango Street.” Esperanza goes on a great discovery in Cisneros’s book, and in this production. I’m curious: How did you discover that you wanted to be an actor and musician?
Mehry
My very first performance was at five years old. I played a riveting little mouse with two lines in a community theater production of The Nutcracker in Los Angeles. After a number of elementary productions, it was in high school that I knew this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I picked up the guitar and started teaching myself around age 13, after that came to ukulele, then mandolin, the banjo ukulele, and the concertina.
Debra
While I would imagine you and Esperanza, the character you will be playing in the upcoming Local Theater company production of Home in the Heart, are quite different—but that there are also moments that resonate closely with you. In the book, for instance, Aunt Lupe tells Esperanza to "keep writing—because it will set you free." How does theater and music set you free?
Mehry
Theater and music free me in ways nothing else can. They open my mind, my heart and my eyes to new levels of creativity, emotion and storytelling. In the theater, I am able to free myself of my own personal barriers by becoming someone else. There is something wildly powerful and exhilarating about evoking emotion from audience members.
With music, I am free of the limitations of words—if I want to convey something that broke my heart and fear that words will not do my emotions justice, I am free to translate that into music… into strums, hums, minor scales, or notes that sound like crying.
Debra
You are currently deep into rehearsals for the production. What is it like to play Esperanza and share her story? What do you hope the thousands of students in the audience take away from seeing this performance?
Mehry
Playing Esperanza is like feeling all of my mother's side of the family at once. It also feels empowering, scary, and exciting in all the best ways. My simple hope is that it broadens the students’ perception toward not only beautiful poetry, but the depth of live theater. Also, I hope the show inspires them to tell their own stories, in whatever way that means for them as individuals.
Debra
You mentioned your mother—which also makes me curious about your name and family history. You have a beautiful name. What is the story behind it? Does your name “fit you” or would you like to give yourself a new name?
Mehry
I was named after my great grandmother on my father's side after being the first female grandchild born to their family. In Farsi, the prefix "Mehr" on its own means "sun" and also "love." The full name translates to, "of immense kindness" or "one who is loved by many."
Due to it’s pronunciation (it’s not pronounced "Mary" but “Meh-hree”), my name has taught me patience and understanding. I truly believe it has helped shape me into the outgoing person I am today. I would never chose another name in the world! This name created me before I was born and I am eternally grateful to be of the sun, of love, of kindness, and of my family.
Debra
Can you tell me about where you grew up and about your family?
Mehry
I am a first generation American. I was born in Los Angeles, my father was born in Iran, and my mother was born in El Salvador. I have a brother seven years younger than me who was born here in Denver.
Debra
Did you have a favorite house or neighborhood that you lived in growing up?
Mehry
Ah yes, the house that I spent the majority of high school in! Those rooms hold some of the best and worst times of my teenage years and although we don’t live there anymore, I think of it often.
Debra
Do you have a dream home or neighborhood that you hope to live in in the future? Can you describe it for us?
Mehry
Boy, I sure would love a nice open high-rise loft in the middle of the city. Floor to window ceiling may be, with exposed brick and pipes. Lots of hanging plants, and area for music writing with the piano and an assortment of other stringed instruments. And also definitely needs to be a big, amazing bathtub. That sounds so nice.
