Transit, by the award-winning theatre company ZENDEH, is a new performance which explores the impact of the shooting down of Iran Air Flight 655 on one father daughter relationship. ZENDEH will present a development showing of the performance at Theatre in the Mill Bradford on Saturday 11th June. Transit is created and directed by UK based Iranian performer/director Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambakhsh and written by Bradford-born Steven Gaythorpe.
Transit writer Steven Gaythorpe commented: ‘The story of Iran – the country we recognise from newsreels and loaded political soundbites – is so much more: rich, complex diverse and human.
Director Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambakhsh is a child of Diaspora and of the 1979 revolution that ushered in the Islamic Republic of Iran. This has a profound influence in the creation, circulation and distribution of our theatre work, placing Iran as a character in all of ZENDEH’s work.’
Transit is set on 4th July 1988, the day after Iran Air Flight 655, a civilian plane, was shot down by the United States Navy, killing all 290 passengers on board. A father and daughter are stranded together in an airport. They are strangers to one another, brought together by necessity. Their relationship is fraught, damaged by choices they each made years before.
As creative inspiration Transit will reference King Lear (and its origins across Europe and the Middle East), Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and personal experiences of fathers and daughters.
The performance is created and directed by Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambakhsh and written by Steven Gaythorpe. Steven was born in Bradford, and was educated at what was Rhodesway School (now Dixons Allerton Academy), where he was involved with many school productions. Steven went to university in Newcastle and helped to set up ZENDEH in 2004.
ZENDEH is an award winning national touring theatre company with a reputation for making high quality, modern and relevant new work exploring themes such as migration, justice and gender equality.
A development showing of Transit will show at Theatre in the Mill on Saturday 11th June, 7.30pm start. Tickets are £9 full, £7 for concessions concession and with a limited student offer of £4. Transit tours nationally February – March 2017.
