Following great success in London last year
30 Bird Productions tour the UK from October with THE
PERSIAN REVOLUTION by Mehrdad Seyf . VISITING WARWICK, LEICESTER,
LIVERPOOL, CAMBRIDGE, EDINBURGH, CRAWLEY, BIRMINGHAM, LONDON.
See tour listings below for full
tour dates.
The constitutional revolution in 1906
was the first event of its kind in the Middle East and was covered by the
press worldwide. 100 years on The Persian Revolution is a lighthearted
contemporary interpretation of the exciting events surrounding the establishment
of the first parliament and constitution in Iran in 1906.
"An enjoyable romp through
revolutionary Persia" Metro
The play travels through layers of time and
across the decades. From the vaudeville halls of 19th Century England to a
corner of Tehran where a child avidly reads the adventures of Tintin.
America lands on the moon whilst an Islamic cleric searches the sky for
God and children learn about the electoral law of 1906. The sound of the
Revolution encroaches upon everyday life as the East awakens and takes its first
tentative steps towards a democratic government.
In this dark comedy Mehrdad Seyf brings an
anarchic surrealist humour to these momentous events where politics, religion,
love, satire, sanitation and civil war go hand in hand with the fragile
establishment of the first secular parliament in the Middle
East.
"Inventive and very funny" Financial
Times
The Anglo/Iranian Cast includes ALI
AMADI, BETSABEH EMRAN, NOEL LE BON, YASMIN BODALBHAI and DONALD SLACK
directed by MEHRDAD SEYF design by LESLIE TRAVERS and lighting design by ANNA
WATSON.
The Persian Revolution is the company¹s fifth theatre project to
date and will further expose culturally diverse work to British audiences.
Created by the team behind the critically acclaimed Majnoun - "Playful,
absurdist and comicŠ (Majnoun) is impossible not to like" The Guardian,
Death by Heroine - "An epic love story enriched by cinematic staging"
Time Out, and the documentary but you speak such good English "- funny,
poignant and a fine, accessible guide to the natures of both the exiled and
their adoptive country" Time Out.
Original play was co-commissioned
by the Iran Heritage Foundation.
The Persian Revolution continues 30
Bird¹s quest to challenge the mis-representation of Iran in the West and to
explore the meeting points between the East and the West. Using visual and
textual material to develop new forms of theatrical expression 30 Bird aims to
create surprise out of the ordinary. The Persian Revolution specifically focuses
on the relationship between the law of the state and the law of
God.
MEHRDAD SEYF was born in
Tehran and has lived in the UK since his teens and was educated at the Lycée
Français in Tehran and London. After studying Literature and Philosophy, he
trained as a psychoanalyst at the Centre for Freudian Analysis and Research and
subsequently worked for 3 years as an analyst. He trained as an actor/director
with Complicite, Monica Pagneux, Zoltoowski and Lorna Marshall. Mehrdad was
assistant director to David Farr on the production of The Odyssey at Lyric
Hammersmith. He has written Two radio plays for Radio 4, The Virgin, for
Stages of Sound, and Yalda as part of The City Speaks project for Radio 4 and
Film London. Mehrdad has written and directed all of 30 Bird¹s projects to
date.
LESLIE TRAVERS is an award winning designer whose
work includes H. Marschner's opera Hans Haling (winner of the European Opera
Competition), Swan Lake and The Nutcracker for K-Ballet Tokyo (Asahi Award
winner for choreography & design); Silent Cry (WYP) Veriete (Lindsay Kemp
Company World Tour) The Lark Ascending (ENB).
For further press
information contact Target-Live 0207 9071117
jenny.eldridge@target-live.co.uk
See also websites
www.target-live.co.uk and
www.30birdproductions.org
