On the eve of Yalda, the longest night of the year, a twin, shipwrecked on the shores of the Caspian Sea and searching for her lost brother, cuts her hair and takes on the role of a man in order to survive in the land of Islamia.
Read all about Roxanne Varzi’s play Yalda in Professor Julia Lupton’s wonderful book chapter:
Lupton, J.R. (2024). “And what should I do in Islamia?”: Shakespeare and the Virtues of Relevance. In: Callaghan, D., Chiari, S. (eds) Shakespeare and the Poetics and Politics of Relevance. Early Modern Cultural Studies 1500–1700. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-66898-2_9
Directed by Eli Simon of the New Swan Shakespeare Center, University of California, Irvine.
Dramaturgy by Professor Julia Lupton, New Swan Shakespeare Center, University of California, Irvine.
Background Resources:
Shakespeare Scholar Extraordinaire, Julia Lupton’s article on Yalda!!!
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-66898-2_9?fromPaywallRec=true#citeas
The place: Post-war Iran:
https://store.der.org/plastic-flowers-never-die-p516.aspx
(Available in most libraries through Kanopy)
The Medium: Theater:
Hajji Firooz, Black-Iranians:
Teachers take the helm in Educators Day at New Swan
Playwright Roxanne Varzi (Anthropology) talked about Yalda, her Iranian adaptation of Twelfth Night. Varzi’s adaptation explores the political significance of veiling in the Iranian context. Yalda occurs on the longest night of the year, when twins are shipwrecked on the shores of the Caspian Sea.