The two writers of Anahita’s Republic, an intersectional thriller set in present day Iran, had to navigate the invisible distance between their two cultures to find a place for their play.

After suffering a devastating personal betrayal in the United Kingdom, Anahita returns to Iran and carries on the struggle for women’s rights, aided by her brother Cyrus who is active in Iranian politics. Refusing to abide by the rules of any republic but her own, she builds a network from within the walls of her wealthy estate in Tehran. One night before a critical meeting between members of the women’s movement and a prominent cleric, a young Muslim woman carrying hope and an explosive secret beneath her chador comes to visit and threatens to destroy everything.

“The process of writing this play forced us to consider both the culture we were writing about and the cultures we were writing within for every word we put on paper. Did this process move Iranian culture from the margins to the centre?”

Hengy* awoke to the expressive power of theatre and the need for plays about complex and old cultures like Iran after experiencing the hope and turmoil of the 2009 Iranian election. She believes compelling storytelling and powerful characters can effectively create cross-cultural dialogue and new understandings.  

Part of the white settler wallpaper of Alberta, Stanley* has worked in educational television, theatre, politics, and non-profit social organizations for many years. Working with Hengy to create the world of Anahita’s Republic has helped him peel his outline from the substratum of white ableist culture and begin to grow a reflective dimension and depth.

* pseudonyms