Iranian actor and theater director Akbar Zandjanpour will begin staging the play 'The Island,' written by South African playwright Atul Fugard, at the Tehran City Theatre on September 16th.
The play was translated by Mohammad Hefazi, and Zandjanpour will also participate in the 75-minute performance alongside Said Dah.
This apartheid-era drama, based on a true story, unfolds in an unnamed prison clearly inspired by the infamous Robben Island in South Africa, where Nelson Mandela spent twenty-seven years.
The central theme of 'The Island' focuses on two inmates in the same cell: one is close to release due to a successful appeal, while the other must remain imprisoned for many more years. They spend their days performing pointless physical labor and their nights rehearsing Sophocles' 'Antigone' in their cell for other prisoners.
One inmate plays Antigone, who dares to defy state laws to bury her brother, while the other portrays her uncle Creon, who sentences her to death for a crime against conscience.
The play draws parallels between Antigone's situation and that of black political prisoners. The tension escalates as the performance approaches, especially when one of the inmates learns of his imminent release, which tests their friendship.
The play was originally shown in Cape Town, at a theatre called The Space, in July 1973. To circumvent the strict censorship in South Africa at the time (plays concerning prison conditions were banned), it debuted under the title 'Die Hodoshe Span.' It was later presented at the Royal Theatre in London and reached Broadway in 1974.
Atul Fugard (1932–2025) was a South African playwright, novelist, actor, and director. He is widely recognized as South Africa's greatest playwright and received recognition from Time magazine in 1985 as the 'greatest active playwright in the English-speaking world,' having published over 30 plays.
He is best known for his political and profound plays that oppose the apartheid system; some of these have been adapted for film. His novel 'Soweto' was adapted into a film of the same name, which won an Academy Award in 2005. Three plays written by him and two co-written plays were nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play.