Shakespeare in Tehran: Meeting the Mothers of Those Who Lead the Iranian Revolution of Woman, Life, Freedom

Shakespeare in Tehran is a personal history of Iran through the eyes of an award-winning Iranian American artist. Drawing on parallels between life and the stage, it uses A Midsummer Night’s Dream as a roadmap to explore social, political, economic, and cultural aspects of Iran before and after the revolution of 1979. Through first-person accounts, interspersed with emotional reflections of the universal human experience, it delves into the historical and sociological context of a divided country.

Storytelling, flashbacks, and flashforwards paint an intimate picture of public life in Iran in a time of uncertainty. Accessible, engaging, and nuanced, this volume will be of interest to scholars and researchers of politics, history, theater and performance studies, and West Asian studies.

Mahmood Karimi Hakak is an award-winning theatre director, poet, author, and translator whose works center on intercultural dialogue and peacebuilding. He has created dozens world-premiere plays including Passion of Ashura (1979), Gilgamesh Con/Quest (1990), and Is the One I Love Everywhere (2020). His literary credits include three books of poetry, four translations, six plays, and many articles and interviews. Shakespeare in Tehran recounts seven years living in Iran during the 1990s when his production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream was raided and closed down by the Islamic Republic. Karimi Hakak is a professor of creative arts at Siena College in New York.