Oblivion

 

 

Oblivion and Other Plays from Post-Revolutionary Iran presents significant Iranian plays written between 1998 and 2019, a period during which the nation experienced a vibrant resurgence in its theatrical output. Featuring five plays from some of Iran’s most prominent and influential playwrights, collected here for the first time in English translation, this anthology illustrates a wide range of performance practices and theatrical modalities that are emblematic of Iran’s post-revolutionary theatrical scene. The plays are presented here alongside historical and cultural context to expand and inform their global audiences.

 

This collection features an array of work that melds the past and present as well as the East and the West. Plays such as The Sacrifice of Senemar (Bahram Beyzaie) and Oblivion (Hamid Amjad) infuse Western dialogic theatre with the Persian indigenous performance practices of ta’ziyeh, shadow puppetry, and naqqāli. The pieces Bird of Dawn (Sepideh Khosrowjah) and The Child (Naghmeh Samini) center women’s narratives and discussions of diasporic belonging and allyship, while The Dance of Mares (Mohammad Charmshir) reimagines Federico García Lorca’s Yerma through surrealism and an abstract episodic structure. Together, these plays showcase the diversity of Iranian contemporary theater, reflecting Persian cultural identity, the use of the stage to explore social and political issues, and a blend of indigenous traditions with European and global dramatic influences.