Oliver Twist

This production is based on the 1968 musical film Oliver! and, while preserving its musical structure, has been adapted for Iran’s stage and cultural context.

It stands as one of the first Iranian musicals in over four decades to allow women to sing and dance on stage, marking a defining moment in the country’s theatre history. Combining movement design, live music, singing, and orchestration, the performance tells Oliver’s story while also symbolizing a broader cultural movement: the revival of musical theatre in Iran.

As an artistic consultant, I worked closely with the team to transform Dickens’ beloved story into a full-scale musical, focusing on dramaturgy and the staging of the vocal pieces. Along the way, I faced some creative challenges: reconciling theatre’s continuous temporal flow with film’s multi-temporal structure, and finding inventive ways to weave the characters’ spoken dialogue seamlessly with their singing section.

Navigating these challenges not only deepened my understanding of musical theatre, but also shaped my approach to directing future projects—such as The Brothers Karamazov— guiding me toward the creation of radical musical sequences.

• Vahdat Hall – November 2017 to February 2018
• Fadjr International Theatre Festival (FITF), Tehran, Iran – Featured in the 36th International Category – January 2018

• Atila Pesyani
• Amir Kaveh Ahaninjan
• Darioush Movafagh
• Hootan Shakiba
• Navid Mohammadzadeh
• Saeed Changizian
• Mahnaz Afshar
• Setareh Pessyani

Duration
120 Minutes

• Performances: 80
• Audience: ~55,000

• Project Executives: Mohammad Ghods and Meysam Ahmadi
• Producer: Harir Honar Sharq Institute