Oblivion: And Other Plays From Post-Revolutionary Iran (In Performance)

Showcases influential Iranian plays translated into English for the first time, offering a rich tapestry of Iran’s vibrant post-revolutionary theater scene.

‘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. Highlighting themes of cultural identity, social issues, and women’s narratives, the plays are presented here alongside historical and cultural contexts to expand and inform their global audiences.

This collection features an array of works that meld 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 theater with the Persian Indigenous performance practices of ta’ziyeh, shadow puppetry, and naqqali. 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 and a blend of indigenous traditions with European and global dramatic influences.

Nahid Ahmadian is a faculty member in the Department of English at the University of Maryland. She is a literary translator and a theater historian. Her translations include Three More Sleepless Nights, Fen: A Play, The After-Dinner Joke, Nietzsche, an Introduction, and An Introduction to Modern European Philosophy.

Ali-Reza Mirsajadi is a scholar, director, activist, and assistant professor of theater studies at the Theatre School at DePaul University. Their scholarship has been published in the Theatre Journal, TDR, and Theatre Topics.