SHAHNAMEH:The Persian Book of Kings

 

SOLD OUT

“Engaging, Fantastical, and Speculative” The Broadway World

Zahhak: The Legend of the Serpent King

January 12-15, 2023-Free Admission 

At American Repertory Theater

Loeb Experimental Theater: 64 Beattle St, Cambridge, MA 02138

See the Production Photos

Click Here for Tickets 

“A unique theatrical enterprise inspired by both western and eastern theatrical traditions, and rooted in the organic connections among artists working within a minimalist production design.” MIZAN

A new adaptation from Shahnameh by Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi (AD 940–1020)

written and directed by Vahdat Yeganeh

performed by Donya Pooli Yeganeh, Engin Ozsahin

music by Engin Ozsahin

Lighting: Justin Paice

costume and makeup: Donya Pooli Yeganeh

 Zahhak: The Legend of the Serpent King is presented as part of the American Repertory Theater’s Dialogue of Civilizations program in coordination with Boston Experimental Theatre.

Videos: Learn More About the Creative Process of Making Zahhak

Boston Experimental Theatre would love to thank the Community Church of Boston, Dean Stevens, and Christle Rawlins-Jackson for their generous support in providing rehearsal space. We also would love to thank Josh Vajcovec for his generous support during our rehearsals. 


Here at the Boston Experimental Theatre (BETC), we are beyond honored and very humbled to invite you to the premiere of our production: Zahhak: The Legend of The Serpent King, at the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) on January 12-15, 2023. To reserve your tickets, please click here. This production is a part of the American Repertory Theater’s Dialogue of Civilizations program. 

Zahhak is an ancient Persian story from Shahnameh (Persian Book of Kings) by Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi (AD 940 – 1020) about a king who survived by eating people’s brains! A metaphorical story about autocratic governments that we’ve seen all around the world. It is inspired by the ancient Persian storytelling style Naghali along with Western physical theater and live jazz music. Originally rehearsed in 2020, we never got a chance to thoroughly rehearse the show and perform it for live audiences due to the Covid-19 pandemic. An incomplete production version was filmed and streamed online in March 2021 and received rave reviews from the press and scholars worldwide. Now we are deeply happy to have the opportunity to perform the complete version of this production live at A.R.T. and will be very grateful to YOU for joining us on this journey.

In January 2020, we decided to produce and share the story of Zahhak with you in response to what was happening politically in Iran and the United States, especially between the two governments. Unfortunately, today, this story is even more relevant to what is happening in IRAN. Here at the Boston Experimental Theater, we would love to dedicate this production to everyone in Iran who is fighting for their human rights and shouting: زن، زندگی، آزادی, WOMEN, LIFE, FREEDOM. 

Shahnameh, the most celebrated epic poem in Iran, chronicles the first fifty monarchs in Iran’s history; Zahhak, one of the poem’s most popular stories, describes the reign of the eponymous demon-possessed fourth king of Persia. It is written and directed by Vahdat Yeganeh and performed by Iranian actress Donya Pooli-Yeganeh and Turkish pianist Engin Ozsahin, who also contributes original music. Audiences are invited to consider this philosophical, psychological, and political Persian mythology in relation to themselves, to experience the power of storytelling, and to consider the Essential Question framing A.R.T.’s production of Life of Pi: How does telling stories help us cope and survive?

In coordination with Boston Experimental Theatre, Zahhak: the Legend of the Serpent King is presented as part of A.R.T.’s Dialogue of Civilizations programming, which creates environments for international artists and thinkers to explore the dynamics of the interplay between their cultures. The Dialogue of Civilizations initiative aims to spark global understanding and empathy to foster a future of symbiotic cultural development and exchange. With this play, artists from different cultures celebrate overlooked Persian literature in America to embody and present the work with the sensibilities, experiences, and ideas of different civilizations.

This production is the Boston Experimental Theatre Company’s surrealist adaptation of Ferdowsi’s story. Boston Experimental Theatre Company (BETC) was founded in 2008 to get back to basics and bring theater to life through the process. Inspired by Antonin Artaud and his concept of Theater of Cruelty and Jerzy Grotowski and his concept of Poor Theater, BETC rehearsals always begin in an empty space with the director, actors, and designers engaging in exercises that explore their thoughts and feelings and allow relationships to develop; shows grows organically from this intimate and intense atmosphere. BETC believes Theater must be a space where actors and spectators can connect meaningfully to their dreams and emotions at the deepest level. BETC productions aim to foster meaningful communication between the actors and the audience to inspire a collective exploration of feelings held captive in the body and the unconscious. Every element of our performance comes from repetitive, naturally driven improvisational exercises so that each facet of the production flows out of a personal, earnest passion for the project. Ultimately, the goal for this production is to become a collective dream among the artists and YOU, the audience. 

Zahhak, the Legend of Serpent King, is a new adaptation that attempts to study this philosophical, psychological, and political Persian mythology in relation to ourselves at this time. In the story of Zahhak, Ferdowsi challenges the history of Iran both sociologically and politically. He symbolically attacks societies that have created and recreated despotic governments for centuries. With his stories, Ferdowsi does not just attack kings, governments, and rulers of Iran. He also points to societies that make serpent kings, then feed and praise them for thousands of years. Alas, 2023 marks 1003 years since Ferdowsi’s death, and in the time since his death, Zahhak, the serpent king, has lived, governed, and killed millions of people all around the world. From Iran to Afghanistan, Turkey, Syria, Russia, China, Korea, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, from the East to the West, and from Europe to Africa, we have seen the rise and death of many serpent kings. And now, even here in our beloved United States of America, not only did we witness the rise of a despotic government, but we also see people who applaud the rise of this new serpent government. With this production, we hope to explore the nature of Evil at a time when we most need to remember where it comes from!

After three years of work in progress, it would be very meaningful to us if you could see this production and share with us your honest thoughts and feelings. We believe theatre is an interpersonal relationship between performers and audiences. Because of this, we rely on your present energy and feedback! 

After the January 14 performance, there will be a post-show conversation with Siamak Movahedi, Ph.D., FIPA, entitled The Ghost of Zahhak in the Age of Totalitarianism. Brief post-show conversations with the company will follow all other performances.

About Our Shahnameh Project:

At the turn of the second millennium, the Persian poet Abolqasem Ferdowsi (940-1020 AD) composed his masterpiece, the Shahnameh, which would become the most celebrated work of epic poetry in Iran. This text chronicles the first fifty kings (or, more accurately, monarchs, as a few of them are queens) in Iran’s history. Beginning with mythological narratives of early rulers at the dawn of man, the nine-volume poem of over 50,000 lines evolves into a more historically accurate account, chronicling Persian history up through the Arab conquest of the seventh century. Ferdowsi fills the historical epic with lush poetic couplets and profound moral witticisms. In the story of Zahhak, he describes the reign of the eponymous demon-possessed fourth king of Persia. Zahhak is one of the most popular stories in the Shahnameh, a terrifying, heroic narrative with psychological insights into the nature of evil and inspiring philosophy of how to overcome it. 

Our Shahnameh projects started in 2014 as part of our mission to practice and study Dariush Shayegan’s philosophy of Dialogue of Civilizations, a set of ideals that encourages creating an environment for international artists and thinkers to explore the dynamics of the interplay between their cultures. This artistic and intellectual work attempts to spark global understanding and empathy to foster a future of symbiotic cultural development and exchange. With the Shahnameh plays, we bring together artists from different cultures to celebrate overlooked Persian literature in America and to embody and present the work with the sensibilities, experiences, and ideas of different civilizations. Our first two adaptations from Shahnameh were produced and performed at Touch Art Gallery, Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis (BGSP), Boston University (BU), and the University of Massachusetts, Boston (UMass Boston) in 2014-2015. An early version of our current production was streamed online in 2021.

Cheers to more dialogue, 

Boston Experimental Theatre 

Vahdat Yeganeh, Donya Pooli Yeganeh, Engin Ozsahin


“I found the show quite revealing of how the language of mythology has different energies and transformations across cultures. There is much to explore in the way Vahdat Yeganeh’s theatrical sensibility has been shaped by his exposure to archetypes in the Iranian context. And this finds expression in his use of color and the strange affinity to the dream-like score of the piano by Engin Ozsahin.” Rustom Bharucha-writer, director and cultural critic. Author of ‘Theatre and the World’ and ‘The Politics of Cultural Practice’. 


“Located at the interstices of theatre, music, and storytelling, it wove a compelling story with movement and sound.” Dr.Robert Lublin-Professor of Theatre Arts, College of Liberal Arts, University of Massachusetts Boston


“This show reaches into the bones and invites of the breath and is worth embracing mutliple times.” Tamera Marko-Executive Director of the Elma Lewis Center, Emerson College


“I recommend watching the production twice. It is worth it as the richness of the production increases the second time and no doubt the third too.” Heather Waters-editor at The Theatre Times. 


Watch the Trailer 

Meet the Company

See The Production Photos

Learn more about B.E.T.C.

An Inspiration by Antonin Artaud