Finally, after thinking a lot about who to bring to the "Lonely Man" theater, my mind continued to work more tightly, and no one but Anoush and Sadri came to mind for the people we wanted to cast in the theater, and my mind was locked on these two people.

Finally, after a lot of back and forth and coordination with Mr. Makivand, I was able to open a way to the prison and go and prepare their pair for "Lonely Man."

Anoush: So they're going to release us?

Behrouz: Yes, but...

Sadri: But what about the Turkashund?

Behrouz: But, on the condition that you only collaborate in the Lone Man theater and return to prison.

Anoush: What's the plan now?

Sadri: Yes, whatever.

Behrouz: You know, to be honest, a few of our actors' contracts have expired, and I thought I could use you for these roles. There are two other roles that I gave to Shervin and Xuan.

Anoush: How good.

Sadri: So your theater is family.

Behrouz: Don't joke, I'm completely serious. In the meantime, Mr. Macivand was supposed to talk to the judge that if you win a Tony Award, they will release you from prison. Of course, Sadri, you can eventually get parole so that you don't get out of a certain radius.

Sadri: Dad, this is better than this cage I'm stuck in.

Anoush: Me too.

It didn't take long before they gave us one of the prison rooms for theater practice with Sadri and Anoush, so we could start practicing theater, and in this one month, I was able to make professional actors out of the pair.

For a month, my job was to go to Plato to rehearse with Shervin and Xuan or to the prison to rehearse with Anoush and Sadri. Soon, what I was waiting for arrived and we were able to take Anoush and Sadri with us to the Tony ceremony with a few officers. After we were guided inside, we started getting ready through the back door. That's when Sadri said, "I'm a little stressed."

Behrouz: Don't worry. I was also very stressed during my first performance.

Sadri: What can I say, Vala, you know. My heart is very restless.

Behrouz: It's natural, Anoush, they're calling our names now. We have to go to the performance. Keep your cool and remember that your freedom depends on the good performance of this theater.

Sadri: You're right, I'll do everything in my power to make sure everything goes well.

Behrouz: Well done, man!

We've reached my favorite act. Right where Bahman was choking me in prison.

Sadri started playing his role. At first I was a little nervous that he wouldn't ruin it. But then I saw that everything was going exactly as it was supposed to. It was exactly this part where Anush saves me from Bahman and the soldier comes and takes Bahman and takes him away.

I named this play "The Lonely Man" because I was always alone and no one was with me, and I put all the events that had happened to me and happened on paper so that I could depict each and every one of them. Exactly the same situations and the same scenes that we had lived together. It was as if it was happening again and as if I was watching a repeated movie that I had seen before.

Xuan and Shervin also played the roles of the same woman and child that I left and left. With these plays and roles, I was even more ashamed and embarrassed of myself.

After our performance, several other performances from several different countries came on stage, and as people came down from the stage, the judges started chatting and started arguing about whose performance was better. After talking, they returned to their seats very dryly and lifelessly.

All the performances were done and we all got dressed, went around the round tables that were there and sat down. I, Sadri, Anoush, and the rest of those who had come with us for the theater were impatiently waiting for the presenter to say my name. I would also go up to the podium and receive the award.

The breaths were counted and everyone was holding their breath.

The presenter came and after talking a lot and announcing the list of those who had participated in the ceremony, he started saying these sentences: “Okay. "Tonight we are going to announce the list of nominees for the Tony Award."

Fortunately, all the speeches had simultaneous interpreters, and we were able to understand everyone on stage very easily.

Meanwhile, Sadri and Anoush were dying of stress.

Sadri: Do you think he will announce our names as nominees?

Anoush, whose face was red from stress, shook his head as if to say, "I don't know."

I was also staring at the stage to see who he would announce for the award.

I was sitting quietly and motionless. Just like a child sitting in front of the TV and waiting for his favorite cartoon to be broadcast, when the host said, "Okay. We are going to announce the list of nominees."

With a tasteless joke that said, "Be careful, you haven't had enough sugar," he went to the list of nominees on time.

- Well. The list of nominees will be announced when the director, producer, and cast come on stage and one person speaks on behalf of all of them.

The first Tony Award winner goes to the play. "Dead Hearts" by Maz Beckett.

Maz Beckett got up in a black suit and with all the cast and crew, got on stage and started speaking, and the next plays were announced. In order, the plays were: "Generalism" by Samuel Baker, "The Alarm Clock" by Susan Hawker, "Sleeper" by Jean Mackenzie, "The Train of Life" by William Lorenzo. A few other plays whose names I can't remember were also announced, and finally it was the turn of the last play to win a Tony Award.

Immediately, the host said: "And now it's time for the last play that has won  our award."

Silence fell everywhere.

Everyone was stressed and we were all anxious about whether our names would be announced or not.

This year, another theater, like us, had participated and was invited to the ceremony with us. It was called "Strange Skulls" directed by "Fahimeh Bagheri." I don't think it would be very well received given the way it was performed.

- Well, our last award goes to the theater "Strange Skulls" by Fahimeh Bagheri."

That's when we all lost the only hope we had. Poor Anoush and Sadri were left in a shock that nothing could bring them out of.

We were all stunned and bewildered by each other and we couldn't understand at all what had happened, or what was going to happen. The entire hall erupted in applause and everyone started cheering for the last chosen theater, and as usual, all the actors in the theater came on stage and started talking about how much they had worked hard for their work and how this theater had come to be.

After a few minutes passed and all the actors in “The Lone Man” were disappointed, we all got up to leave the hall. Even though the ceremony continued until late at night.

Anoush said, “So all this rehearsal we did, nothing?!”

Sadri also said with his negative glasses: “Yeah, again, it means nothing to nothing. We’re going back to the same prison we were in.”

Xuan, who was seeing Sadri and Anoush for the first time, started to comfort them and said, “Dad, this isn’t the last time we’ll participate in the festival. We’ll come back.” It was like he was comforting a child. Shervin was also crying all the time and didn’t know what had happened or what was going on.

I really needed someone to comfort me in a situation like this. But I had to gather the children myself.

The interesting thing was that we all felt frustrated together.

A strange sound could be heard from the hall. It seemed like a special song was being played for a special ceremony. As soon as the song ended, the host started shouting: “Now we are going to announce the name of our top theater winner, and we kept this as a surprise for the end of the ceremony so that no one would fall asleep during the ceremony.”

As soon as we heard these words as we left the hall, it was as if a spark of hope had been lit in each of our hearts and we all became hopeful and each of us sat up straight in our seats. At the height of disbelief, there was a lot of chaos in the hall and the applause was very loud. During this loud applause, the host said: “The Tony Award for Best Play goes to the play “The Lonely Man” by Mr. Behrouz Tarkashvand.”

It was then that I remembered the moment when I imagined myself at the Tony Awards and for a moment I was happy.

We immediately went on stage with all the actors and started talking and telling everyone about my fate. I even told them about Anoush and Sadri, with whom I was in prison and I finished most of the play. I even told them everything about my differences with Juan. The audience was almost in tears.

I never thought that one day, later, I would look my problems in the eyes and tell them that I was happy.

After bowing to the people and their repeated applause, I turned for a moment and looked at all the children. The joy in each of their looks was truly worth all the suffering I had endured over the years.

The ceremony ended very quickly, like the blink of an eye, and we all returned to the hotel where we had been invited to stay.

It was almost as if everyone was asleep. Even Juan and Sherwin. Blackness had taken over everywhere. The difference was that I was shining in this blackness. I seized the opportunity and went to the bench in front of the hotel and proudly lit a cigarette. I had finally come to believe that after these dark nights that had passed in my life, morning would finally come.

A good day would come, and a new beginning. Maybe that day would be today. Maybe today is the last day of the hidden pain and old wounds that tear at all of us and make us depressed. Maybe a small candlelight on this hopeless path, flickering in the darkness, waiting for the good call of happiness from afar, to finally give you a little bit of hope.