There is something particularly engaging about a performer willing to turn the spotlight firmly on themself. Sahra Davoudi does exactly that, offering a personal exploration of identity, migration and the complicated business of belonging.
Arriving in Melbourne from Tehran at the age of 25, Davoudi had to learn English while navigating a new culture and the often invisible expectations that come with starting again. Her first solo work as a writer and performer draws on that experience, but AM I WHO X 2 is more than a straightforward migration story.
Directed with a guiding hand by Margaret Mills, the 40-minute monologue moves between sharp self-awareness and moments of vulnerability. Davoudi has an appealing willingness to expose herself, offering what she calls “deeply unnecessary levels of oversharing”. It is this candour that gives the work much of its appeal.
Beneath the humour is a more complicated story about survival. Davoudi explores loneliness disguised as charisma, freedom that does not always feel free, and the emotional shapeshifting required to constantly fit in anywhere, everywhere, somewhere.
AM I WHO X 2 considers what happens when survival becomes second nature, and when performing yourself begins to feel safer than simply being yourself. Davoudi avoids offering neat answers, allowing the contradictions to sit alongside one another.
Holding a Bachelor of Theatre Arts from the University of Art and Architecture in Tehran and a Master of Theatre Writing from the Victorian College of the Arts, along with performance experience with Outer Urban Projects, Davoudi brings a sound understanding of rhythm, timing and the value of a well-placed pause to the performance.
Subtle lighting and well-positioned sound cues provide unobtrusive support, helping shape the shifts between humour, vulnerability and reflection. A couple of momentary lapses do little to detract from the otherwise assured performance, adding, if anything, to the honesty of the material.
With AM I WHO X 2, Davoudi has created a compact, candid and humorous piece of theatre, finding plenty of material in the uncertainty of who we are and where we belong.
AM I WHO? X 2
Festival Hub: Meat Market – Craft Room, 5 Blackwood Street, North Melbourne
Performance: Tuesday 6 October 2026
Season continues to 10 October 2026
Information and Bookings: www.melbournefringe.com.au
Image: Sahra Davoudi – photo by Alex First
Review: Rohan Shearn