Conference Programme
Day One: Wednesday 23 September
216 Buchanan Building, Union Street, St Andrews KY16 9PQ
Panel One: 13.30-15.30 Music, Narration and Gender as Emancipatory Forms
Saeed Talajooy, University of St Andrews
The Emancipatory Aesthetics of Parallel Narration on Iranian Stage
Parmis Mozafari, University of St Andrews
Staging the Forbidden: Theatre as an Emancipatory Space for Dance and Women’s Singing Voice in Postrevolutionary Iran
Parisa Sajjadi, University of St Andrews
The Pleasure of Ignorance: Heroism and Its Pitfalls in Nazerzadeh Kermani’s The Eunuchs of Eagle-Dragon
Fahimeh Najmi, Paris 8 University
Women as Emancipators in Contemporary Iranian Drama ; A Look Back at Four Iranian Plays Written Between 2016 and 2023
Coffee Break: 15.30-16.00
Panel Two: 16.00-18.00 Heroes and Antiheroes of Myth, History and Resistance
Anna Heller, Marburg University
Configurations of the Heroic: Gholam-Hoseyn Saʿedi’s Five Plays of the Constitutional Revolution
Parviz Jahed, Independent Theatre and Film Scholar
Reconstructing the epic heroism: Rostam in Mohammad Rezaei Rad’s Hashtomin Khan
Ramin Farhadi, University of Manchester
Resisting Power and Ideology: The Practice of Political Theatre in Contemporary Iran
Marjan Moosavi, University of Pittsburgh
Reading the Monstrous: Alternative Heroism in Naghmeh Samini’s Monster Reading
Play Performance: 18.30-21.15, ‘Theatre Laundering’. Further Information
Main Auditorium, The Byre Theatre, Abbey Street, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9LA
Day Two: Thursday 24 September (9.00-15.00)
GWY: Seminar Rooms 4 and 5 (basement), The Gateway, North Haugh, St Andrews, KY16 9RJ.
Panel Three: 9.00-11.00 Alternative Forms of Representation and Scholarship
Ali Shapouran, University of St Andrews
A Reflection on the Methods of Studying Theatre
Behzad Lotfi, University of St Andrews
Performing an Alternative Sensible: Symbolic Repertoires and Political Action
Amin Azimi, University of Toronto
Dissensus Beyond Borders: The Transnational Politics of Form in Contemporary Iranian Theatre
Elham Maadani, University of St Andrews
The Aesthetic Potentials of Documentary Theatre in Contemporary Iran: Citizen Narratives, Public Encounter, and the Ethics of Representation
Coffee Break 11-11.30am
Panel Four: 11.30-13.30 Emancipatory Visions of Being, Swinging and Representing
Arvand Dashtaray, Iranian-Dutch Theatre Practitioner
Let’s Swing a Bit: Resilience, Playfulness and Evolutionary Survival
Naghmeh Samini, Playwright, Screenwriter and Scholar
The Absent Hero: The Challenges of Creating the Iranian Hero
Saba Zavarei, Goldsmith University
Performing the Ordinary: Everyday Acts of Emancipation in Iran
Sanaz Afshin, University of Groningen
Looking for a Small Cultural Pause through Theatre: A reflection on Theatre Laundering by Virgule Theatre Company