Conference on Iranian Theatre Alternative Discourses of Heroism and Emancipation in Iranian Theatre
Over the past two centuries, Iranian theatre has been at the forefront of emancipatory innovation in cultural production, both on its underground and official stages. This international conference brings together scholars and practitioners to generate new momentum in the study of Iranian theatre. As its title, “Alternative Discourses of Heroism and Emancipation in Iranian Theatre,” suggests, the conference explores the diverse ways in which Iranian playwrights and theatre practitioners have collaboratively reworked and expanded indigenous and global dramatic forms to defamiliarize the way we see the world and imagine new visions of togetherness, heroism, and emancipation.
The conference also seeks to provide a forum for developing new approaches to scholarship on Iranian theatre and examining how theatrical practices have continually shaped and reshaped the cultural givens of Iranian civilization. It considers the ways theatre has contributed to the emergence of increasingly cosmopolitan, future-oriented, yet distinctly Iranian visions of collective life, belonging, and identity.
With the exception of the performance of Theatre Laundering, which will be staged at and ticketed by The Byre Theatre, the conference is free and open to the public, either in its entirety or for individual sessions, subject to advance booking. For further information and booking, please contact Dr Saeed Talajooy, senior lecturer in Persian, at [email protected].
Venues
Wednesday, 23 September, 13:30–18:00: Room 216, Buchanan Building
Union Street, St Andrews, KY16 9PQ
Wednesday, 23 September, 18:30–21:30: Main Auditorium, The Byre Theatre
Abbey Street, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9LA
Thursday, 24 September, 09:00–15:00: GWY: 104/105 Seminar Room, The Gateway
North Haugh, St Andrews, KY16 9RJ
The conference has been funded by the British Institute of Persian Studies, the Honeyman Foundation, the School of Modern Languages at the University of St Andrews, and the Institute of Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews.
The Honeyman Foundation was established in 1985 through the generosity of A. M. (Sandy) Honeyman, a former Professor at the University of St Andrews, with the aim of supporting education and research in general, and the study of Middle Eastern languages and cultures in particular.