Ivan Vyrypaev
Iranian Conference
In 2017, Ivan Vyrypaev, the Russian-born and Polish-based author of one of the most influential and cult plays in contemporary drama, Iranian Conference was translated into many languages and has since been performed in several major theatres.
The title and setting of the play is symbolic – a gathering of intellectuals at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, an Orientalist scholar and theologian, a political scientist and war correspondent, a television presenter and writer, a pastor and conductor, and an Iranian poetess and Nobel Prize winner for Literature, to express their views on human rights and freedom of expression, the geopolitical conflict in the Middle East and the “Iranian problem”. But the conference, which starts out as an academic one, takes an unexpected turn when the speakers’ different world views and ways of thinking, their different life experiences, come into conflict, and the personal life stories and inner struggles of the participants are revealed in the course of the heated dialogues and the revealing, confessional monologues. Exploring the causes and consequences of cataclysms in the world, the characters come to the confrontation between Eastern and Western civilisations and the fundamental question of humanity – what is the meaning of life?
The performance is a poignant spiritual journey that explores the themes of freedom, faith in God and happiness in a variety of approaches, forcing the audience to confront the most important questions of our time and the state of our civilization.
We don’t recommend this performance for people under the age of 16.
The permission of Ivan Viripaev was intermediated by henschel SCHAUSPIEL Theaterverlag Berlin (DE) and Hofra Ltd. www.hofra.hu
