Gonbad Incidents

This lecture-performance begins with the historical narrative of Atena, a young Turkmen woman, recounting how four bodies were found beneath a bridge near Gonbad-e Kavus at the onset of the Iranian Revolution 1979. These bodies belonged to members of the Turkmen People’s Cultural and Political Society, killed during protests against Tehran’s revolutionary guards.

Atena enriches the story surrounding this event using historical documents and interviews with eyewitnesses. She then connects via live video call with an economics professor at the University of Sorbonne to illuminate the political economy of Turkmen’s People Party movement and its erased history.

At the conclusion, after a direct dialogue with audiences and a few questions on contemporary Iranian economic issues, Atena invites her father, one of the eyewitnesses of the Gonbad incidents, onto the stage. This improvised dialogue brings the performance to a point where historical narrative connects to Atena’s personal experience. In this moment, lands, ownership, and memory reach not only into a collective past but also into a living family conflict.

How can theatre bridge the personal and the public?
We decided not to merely represent history, but to bring it to life on stage. The limitations of official sources made us see history as an open, living project, where oral narratives hold equal weight to formal documents. Rather than relying on a conventional script, we constructed the lecture as a collage of records, letters, interviews, photographs, and footage, offering both a scholarly perspective on Iran’s political economy and a window into our research process.

By adding an extra chair, projections, and incorporating live visuals, we transformed the stage into a dynamic space for layered dialogue, giving the lecture a performative dimension. Through simple yet deliberate questions, Atena engaged the audience, activating collective memory.

In the final act, this historical connection merged with Atena’s personal experience—including family disputes and land conflicts— creating a theatrical moment where each audience member confronts political and ethical questions, not just as observers but as participants in a living, shared inquiry.

• This underground performance has been staged in informal venues in Tehran – 2023

Duration
80 Minutes

• Producer: Tazeh Theatre Group