It is 4 July 1988, the day after Iran Air Flight 655, a civilian plane flying between Bandar Abbas and Dubai, was shot down by the United States Navy guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes. The missile killed all 290 passengers on board the flight, including 66 children and 16 crew members. The incident took place in Iranian airspace, over Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf, and on the flight's usual flight path.
For the first time in ten years, Darya and her father, Roger, meet in the transit lounge of Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam.
She is a dual-national, trapped between two cultures, living through trauma, with a beautiful singing voice. He is a professor of music, blinded by privilege, with a narrow view of the political landscape.
This is the beginning of Transit, the latest production by Newcastle-based Zendeh, which is led by Artistic Director Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambakhsh. Like the company’s 2014 production HEART, Transit draws upon how the uneasy relationship between Iran and the West impacts upon individuals, even in seemingly unrelated situations.
The production’s creator and director is Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambakhsh, the writer Steven Gaythorpe, the composer Mariam Rezaei and the choreographer Nadia Iftkhar.
Transit opens at Northern Stage on 27 and 28 January and then tours to:
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7 – 8 February
The Byre, St Andrews -
26 February
Rich Mix, London -
28 February
Octagon, Bolton -
2 March
Arts Centre Washington -
9 – 11 March
Tron Theatre, Glasgow -
14 – 15 March
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh -
17 March
The Witham, Barnard Castle, County Durham