Informant: My friend’s mother tells stories about the Jinn, as her mother’s nanny originally told her, which were then passed down to Shiva. She says she does not know if Jinn exist, but there are certainly people in Iran who swear they are real. She has fun telling these stories because of their potential for belief.

Original Script: There is a story that this guy went to, before going to work they would go to public baths, it was normal, and this guy went to a public bath at five o’clock, five in the morning one day, Jinn’s hour. And the housekeeper, the bath-keeper, wasn’t there initially. So he just goes in, and he dips in the jacuzzi or whatever, the bathtub that they have, and usually someone comes and pours some water on you, and there’s this other person who comes and rubs you. And he says that as he approached him and poured water on him, he notices the feet, and the feet aren’t feet! Not human feet! And he looks up and he sees the other people that are there, none of them have human feet. And he gets scared and he runs out. Oh, they start singing and dancing for some reason, saying, “don’t be scared, we’re good!” And then he runs outside and sees the bath-keeper, the lady that’s there, and she says, “where are you going, where are you going?!” and he looks down, and she’s one of them too! So he just runs outside, butt naked. (SJ)

Context of the Performance: Over dinner, family members exchanged old folk stories they remember from Iran.
Thoughts about the Piece: I enjoyed this piece, as everyone around the table was invested and entertained by the story. It also provided insight to ways of the past while the story itself retains humor.