Death of Yazdgerd

DEATH OF YAZDGERD 2017–18 SEASON

DECEMBER 5–9, 2017

YALE SCHOOL OF DRAMA James Bundy, Dean Victoria Nolan, Deputy Dean Chantal Rodriguez, Associate Dean Kelvin Dinkins, Jr., Assistant Dean

PRESENTS

BY BAHRAM BEYZAI TRANSLATED BY MANUCHEHR ANVAR DIRECTED BY SHADI GHAHERI Music Director and Sound Designer

MICHAEL COSTAGLIOLA

Composer

MOHSEN NAMJOO

Scenic Designer

JOHN BONDI-ERNOEHAZY

Costume Designer

MIKA H. EUBANKS

Lighting Designer

SAMUEL KWAN CHI CHAN

Projection Designer

YAARA BAR

Visual Artist and Muralist

IMAN RAAD

Production Dramaturg

Technical Director

Stage Manager

ARIEL SIBERT KEVIN BELCHER JOHN CARLIN

SEASON SPONSORS

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photograph by David Ottenstein

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475 heffernan drive, west haven, connecticut 06516 t 203 479 7500 f 203 479 7575 www.ghpmedia.com

CAST in alphabetical order The Soldier The Commander The Woman The Girl

JOSÉ ESPINOSA SEAN BOYCE JOHNSON FRANCESCA FERNANDEZ McKENZIE SOHINA SIDHU

The Miller

JAMES UDOM

The Priest

SETAREKI WAINIQOLO

The Captain

CURTIS WILLIAMS

Musicians YAHYA ALKHASANA MOHSEN NAMJOO

SETTING A mill in Marv, Iran, 651 AD. Death of Yazdgerd is performed without an intermission.

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“...Thereupon Yazdgerd fled towards Marv and saught refuge in a watermill. The miller, longing for His treasures, killed Him in sleep...[651 AD.].”

History!

،‫ آسیابان‬.‫ یزدگرد به سوی مرو گریخت و به آسیابی درآمد‬،‫پس‬

‫ میالدی‬۶۵۱ ‫ سال‬...‫ او را در خواب بکشت‬،‫به طمع زر و مال‬

!‫ تاریخ‬

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The Ends of History Some events split history into before and after. Battles.

Revolutions. Assassinations. The shot fired from a single gun, the whistling free-fall of a bomb, the impact of a fatal blow. In the ancient faith of Zoroastrianism, the death of King Yazdgerd III marks the end of time. Its calendar records the date of Yazdgerd’s death Day Zero of Year Zero, the end of the millennium of Zoroaster, its founding prophet. That same year is known to historians as 651 CE: the year invading Islamic armies from Arabia decisively conquered the Sasanian Empire, supplanting its state religion, Zoroastrianism, with their own.

The Sasanian kings ruled from their seat in modern day Iran for 400 years. At its greatest extent, their dominion encompassed vast territories of the Middle East, from Egypt to Afghanistan. Over his short life, Yazdgerd III would see the great fire-temples destroyed, his capital city, Ctesiphon, overtaken, his vast treasuries raided and dispersed. What remains of the Sasanian Empire are these scattered treasures and the stories of its kings.

Yazdgerd’s story, it is said, ended in ignominy. In flight from the Arab armies, betrayed by his last allies, Yazdgerd took refuge in a mill. There, the miller—perhaps seduced by the king’s golden raiment, perhaps under threat from Yazdgerd’s enemies—murdered him.

In 1979, the last Shah of Iran fled the country. Millions of Iranians, Marxists and nationalists, Muslims and atheists, schoolteachers and soldiers, men and women, poured into the streets in celebration.

Together they had ousted the authoritarian Pahlavi monarchy. In its place, an Islamic Revolutionary government, with Ayatollah Khomeini as its unofficial head, rose to power.

Bahram Beyzai’s Death of Yazdgerd premiered in July of that year. In August, the new government began shutting down the newspapers of its critics. Khomeini framed it as an inevitability. He said, “After each revolution, several thousand of these corrupt elements are executed in public and burnt and the story is over.” He said, “They are not allowed to publish newspapers.”

Death of Yazdgerd was written between 1978 and 1979, between hope and disillusionment, past and future, before and after. It is concerned with what falls between the cracks in history—the names, faces, and memories of the powerless. For Beyzai, the story of the miller isn’t over. His play attempts nothing less than to rip time apart, to open a hole in the histories of victors, to reach back into that break and rescue some of what has been lost.

—ARIEL SIBERT, PRODUCTION DRAMATURG

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ABOVE: Head of a king, Sasanian, ca. 4th century, Iran. Photo by Artokoloro, courtesy of Alamy.

‫پایان یک تاریخ‪:‬‬

‫برخی از رخدادها‪ ،‬تاریخ را به دوره پیش و پس خود تقسیم می کند‪.‬‬ ‫{همچون}جنگها‪ ،‬انقالبها‪ ،‬قتل عامها‪ ،‬تیری که از تفنگی شلیک میشود‪ ،‬صدای‬ ‫غرش بمباران‪ ،‬و یا تماس یک ضربه مرگبار‪ .‬در آیین باستانی زرتشت‪ ،‬مرگ‬ ‫یزدگرد سوم‪ ،‬نشان از پایان یک دوره دارد‪ .‬در تقویم زرتشتی‪ ،‬مرگ یزدگرد‪ ،‬روز‬ ‫صفر از سال صفر‪ ،‬به عنوان پایان هزاره زرتشت‪ ،‬ثبت شده است‪ .‬این همان سالی است‬ ‫که در نزد مورخان به عنوان سال ‪ 651‬میالدی شناخته شده است‪ ،‬سالی که لشگریان‬ ‫اسالم ازعربستان‪ ،‬امپراطوری ساسانیان را قاطعانه فتح نمودند و دین خود را جایگزین‬ ‫دین دولتی زرتشت کردند‪.‬‬ ‫پادشاهان ساسانی‪ ،‬در مقرشان در ایران امروز‪ ،‬حدود چهارصد سال حکمرانی‬ ‫کردند‪ .‬قلمرو آنان‪ ،‬در گسترده تردین محدوده سلطنتی خود‪ ،‬بخش وسیعی از‬ ‫خاورمیانه‪ ،‬از مصر تا افغانستان را در برمیگرفت‪ .‬یزدگرد سوم در دوران‬ ‫کوتاه حیات خود‪ ،‬شاهد آتش سوزی عظیم‪ ،‬ویرانی معابد‪ ،‬سقوط پایتختش‬ ‫– تیسفون‪ -‬تاراج و پراکنده شدن خزانه های عظیمش بوده است‪ .‬آنچه از‬ ‫امپراطوری ساسانی بجا ماند؛ گنجینه های پراکنده و داستانهایی از پادشاهان‬ ‫آن بود‪.‬‬ ‫داستان یزدگرد‪ ،‬آنچنان که نقل شده است‪ ،‬سرانجامی خفت بار یافت‪ .‬آخرین‬ ‫متحدانش به وی خیانت کردند و او در مقابل نیروی اعراب پا به فرار گذاشت و به‬ ‫آسیابی پناه برد‪ .‬در آنجا‪ ،‬آسیابان‪ ،‬یا به دلیل طمع و وسوسه برای جامه طالیی پادشاه‬ ‫و یا از بیم تهدیدهای دشمنان شاه‪ ،‬او را به قتل رساند‪.‬‬ ‫آخرین شاه ایران در سال ‪ 1979‬از کشور گریخت‪ .‬میلیونها ایرانی اعم از مارکسیت و‬ ‫ناسیونالیست‪ ،‬مسلمان و خداناباور‪ ،‬معلم و سرباز‪ ،‬مرد و زن برای جشن و پایکوبی به خیابانها‬ ‫آمدند‪ .‬آنها با یکدیگر حکومت مستبد پهلوی‪ -‬را از کشور بیرون راندند‪ .‬و به جای آن‪ ،‬حکومت‬ ‫انقالب اسالمی‪ ،‬با آیت اهلل خمینی در مقام رهبر غیررسمی به قدرت رسید‪.‬‬ ‫نمایشنامه‌ی مرگ یزدگرد از بهرام بیضایی در تیرماه همان سال به نمایش درآمد‪ .‬در‬ ‫مردادماه‪ ،‬حکومت جدید‪ ،‬توقیف روزنامه های منتقد را در سرلوحه کار خود قرار داد‪ ،‬مساله ای‬ ‫که بنا به گفته خمینی‪ ،‬امری اجتناب ناپذیر بود‪ .‬وی بیان کرد‪ :‬پس از هر انقالبی‪ ،‬چندین هزار نفر‬ ‫از عناصر فاسد‪ ،‬در مالعام اعدام و سوزانده میشوند و داستان خاتمه مییابد‪ .‬او هچنین گفت‪ :‬به‬ ‫آنها‪ ،‬مجوز نشر روزنامه داده نشود‪.‬‬ ‫نمایشنامه‌ی "مرگ یزدگرد" در فاصله‌ی سالهای ‪ 1979‬و ‪ ،1978‬بین امید و سرخوردگی‪،‬‬ ‫گذشته و آینده‪ ،‬قبل و بعد نوشته شده است‪ .‬از نگاه بیضایی‪ ،‬داستان آسیابان پایان نیافته است‪.‬‬ ‫نمایش او تالشی است برای شکافتن زمانهای مجزا‪ ،‬باز کردن حفره هایی در تاریخ فاتحان‪ ،‬و‬ ‫دست یافتن به پس آن شکافها و نجات برخی از عناصر مفقود شده‪.‬‬ ‫‪7‬‬

‫چهره ی پادشاه‪ ،‬دوره ی ساسانیان‪ ،‬قرن چهارم‪ ،‬ایران‪ ،‬عکس از آرتوکولو‪ ،‬ازانتشارات آالمی‬

ANCIENT TRADITIONS, NEW FORMS: NAQQALI AND TA’ZIEH In 1965, Bahram Beyzai, the playwright of Death of Yazdgerd, published A Study on Iranian Theatre. His book, a pillar of Iranian theatre scholarship, charts a history of Persian performance traditions across centuries. Beyzai’s study influenced the form of Death of Yazdgerd, a play-within-a-play that uses theatrical expression to ask ontological questions about the nature of truth and power. Our production draws on two of these ancient forms, Naqqali and Ta’zieh—their vivid imagery, emotional power, epic scope, and intimate relationship with their audiences.

NAQQALI is Iran’s oldest form of dramatic expression. Naqqali combines visual art, music, dance, and drama, recitation and improvisation, all brought together in performance by a master storyteller. The storyteller, or Naqqal, performs before a richly decorated scroll or tapestry, which illustrates a legend drawn from Persian epics. Using a pointer, the Naqqal guides the viewer through the episodes of the story. They embody all the parts—men and women, kings and servants, even whole armies. In our production, projections act as the narrator, animating a Naqqali curtain designed by Iranian artist Iman Raad. As the numbers of experienced, master performers of Naqqali have dwindled, UNESCO has declared it in urgent need of preservation as part of Iran’s immaterial cultural heritage.

TA’ZIEH The word Ta’zieh derives from the Arabic verb for both mourning and consolation. Ta’zieh performers sing or recite their parts to the audience and to each other, inviting spectators into a circulation of feelings—joy, terror, sorrow, awe. Part historical reenactment, part musical drama, and part religious ritual, Ta’zieh is a kind of passion play that tells stories from the life and death of the Shi’ite Imam Hosayn. Ta’zieh is most often performed in the round. The stage space might be as simple as a set of boards placed across a courtyard pool, or as spectacular in scale as a Greek amphitheatre, housed in domed buildings that could seat whole villages.

—AS

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NAQQALI

‫سنتهای کهن‪ ،‬فرمهای نو؛ نقالی و تعزیه‬

‫بهرام بیضایی نمایشنامه نویس خالق "مرگ یزدگرد" در سال ‪ 1965‬کتابی در مورد "نمایش در ایران"‬ ‫منتشر نمود‪ .‬کتاب وی‪ ،‬تحقیق بنیادینی در مورد تئاتر ایران است و تاریخ سنت نمایشی در ایران را در طول‬ ‫قرنها به تصویر میکشد‪" .‬مرگ یزدگرد" که یک نمایش بازی در بازی است‪ ،‬با تاثیر ازاین پژوهش‪ ،‬از‬ ‫بیان نمایشی برای به چالش کشیدن ماهیت حقیقت و قدرت استفاده می کند‪ .‬این اجرا‪ ،‬بر اساس دو شکل از‬ ‫این سنتهای باستانی‪ ،‬یعنی نقالی و تغزیه‪ -‬با تشبیه ادبی‪ ،‬مضامین حماسی و رابطه خودمانیشان با مخاطبان‬ ‫ شکل گرفته است‪.‬‬‫نقالی‪ :‬نقالی‪ ،‬کهن ترین شکل قصه‌گویی نمایشی در ایران است‪ .‬نقالی ترکیبی از هنر بصری‪ ,‬موسیقی‪،‬‬ ‫رقص‪ ،‬نمایش‪ ،‬بازگویی و بدیه گویی است که همه این ها در اجرای قصه گو (مرشد) آورده میشود‪ .‬قصه گو‪،‬‬ ‫یا نقال‪ ،‬با یک کتیبه پر از نقش و تصویر و یا پرده نقشدار نمایش را اجرا میکند و یک افسانه از حماسه های‬ ‫ایرانی را روایت میکند‪ .‬نقال با استفاده از یک چوبدستی‪ ،‬بیننده را به درون همه اپیزودهای داستان هدایت‬ ‫میکند‪ .‬نقالها‪ ،‬همه‌ی نقش ها – مرد و زن‪ ،‬پادشاه و خدمه‪ ،‬و حتی همه سربازان را به تصویر میکشند‪ .‬در کار‬ ‫ما‪ ،‬پروژکشن همچون قصه گو به پرده نقالی که ایمان راد‪ ،‬هنرمند ایرانی طراحی کرده است‪ ،‬جان میبخشند‪ .‬از‬ ‫آنجا که شمار مرشدان خبره‌ای که نقالی را اجرا میکنند‪ ،‬کاهش یافته است‪ ،‬یونسکو‪ ،‬ضرورت مبرم درجهت‬ ‫حفظ آن را به عنوان بخشی از میراث معنوی‪ -‬فرهنگی ایران اعالم کرده است‪.‬‬ ‫تعزیه‪ :‬واژه تعزیه از فعل عربی در دو معنای سوگواری و تسلیت مشتق شده است‪ .‬تعزیه خوانان به صورت‬ ‫موزون و آهنگین‪ ،‬قطعه های مربوط به خودشان را برای تماشاگران و یکدیگر اجرا میکنند‪.‬و تماشاگران را‬ ‫به جریانهای احساسی چون لذت‪،‬وحشت‪ ،‬حزن و اندوه فرا میخوانند‪ .‬تعزیه‪ ،‬با اجرای قطعه های تاریخی‪،‬‬ ‫نمایش موسیقیایی‪ ،‬و قطعه های از آیین مذهبی‪،‬گونهای از نمایش است که داستانهایی از زندگی و مرگ‬ ‫امام شیعیان‪ ،‬امام حسین را بازگو میکند‪ .‬اغلب اوقات‪،‬تعزیه در میدان اجرا میشود‪ .‬فضای صحنه ممکن است‬ ‫بسیار ساده باشد‪ ،‬مثل پوشاندن روی حوض حیاط با تخته و یا بسیار با شکوه و دیدنی مثل تاتر یونانی‪ ،‬که‬ ‫در ساختمانهای گنبدی برپا میشوند و همه روستا میتوانند در آن بنشینند‪.‬‬

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‫‪TA'ZIEH‬‬

CAST YAHYA ALKHASANA (MUSICIAN) started playing tonbak at age nine. He played traditional music for seven years before switching to a drum set at age 16. He has toured with many Iranian underground rock musicians and joined the band 127 in 2002. He has performed in world festivals with 127, including Italy’s Arezzo Wave and SXSW in Austin, Texas. He has collaborated with Mohsen Namjoo since 2011 on live performances and studio recordings. Yahya has a BS in metallurgy from Tehran’s Azad University. He moved to the United States to pursue his education in music, and studied advanced drum performance in New York City’s Collective School of Music, graduating in May 2012.

JOSÉ ESPINOSA (THE SOLDIER) is a second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, where his credits include Pentecost and Escape from Happiness. His other credits include The Meal, The Other World (Yale Cabaret); Macbeth, The Taming of the Shrew (City Shakespeare Co.); and Transformatique (Dixon Place).

SEAN BOYCE JOHNSON (THE COMMANDER) is a third-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, where his credits include Sweat, Titus Andronicus, ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, Wrong River, The Three Sisters, and Some Bodies Travel. He holds a BA in speech communications from SUNY Potsdam. He has appeared in Adam Geist, Phaedra’s Love (Yale Summer Cabaret); Edward II (Mercury Glass); As You Like It (Alchemical Theatre Lab); Topdog/Underdog (SUNY Potsdam); Gym Shorts (777 Theatre); Standing on Ceremony (Pendragon Company and Tectonic Theater Company); and Chains (The Players Theatre), among others.

FRANCESCA FERNANDEZ McKENZIE (THE WOMAN) is a third-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, where she was seen in The Hour of Great Mercy, Othello, Wrong River, Blood Wedding, and Our Lady of 121st Street. Her regional credits include The Lily’s Revenge (Southern Rep); Sheddin’ (Horizon Theatre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (New Orleans Shakespeare Festival); and The Hotel Plays (Provincetown Players). Other credits include One Big Breath, Salt Pepper Ketchup, and Thunder Above, Deeps Below (Yale Cabaret); and Lear (Yale Summer Cabaret). Francesca was a co-founding member of the School of Drama’s first Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Working Group, and is a coorganizer of the Asian and Asian American Coalition (aka Asian Potluck). She is a co-Artistic Director of Yale Cabaret, currently celebrating its 50th season. She is also a proud recipient of the Nancy and Edward Trach Scholarship. Francesca tells stories for her liberation, which is tied to yours.

MOHSEN NAMJOO (COMPOSER AND MUSICIAN) is an Iranian artist, songwriter, singer, music scholar, and setar (traditional Persian lute) player based in New York City. Hailed as “the Bob Dylan of Iran” by The New York Times, Namjoo is a visionary artist who speaks for the youth in Iran. Seamlessly

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blending the classical Persian setar with electric guitar, and rock and blues vocal techniques with Persian avaz (singing), he fuses the ancient with the current. Since his arrival in the United States in 2011, Namjoo has been touring the world to sold out concerts at prestigious halls such as Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco; Conservatorio Sala Verdi, Milan, Italy; Disney Hall, Los Angeles; and many more. His latest album Voices from the East with Nederlands Blazers Ensemble was released in June 2017.

SOHINA SIDHU (THE GIRL) is a second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, where she has been seen in Pentecost and Escape from Happiness. She conceived and directed The Red Tent at Yale Cabaret and appeared in The Trojan Women at Yale Summer Cabaret. Other credits include The Seagull (Schapiro Theatre), Caenis (Pace Gallery NYC), Meditations in an Avalanche (Alchemical Theatre), and Seven; a documentary play (Bovard Auditorium, USC), among others. Television credits include Outsourced. Sohina holds degrees in acting from University of Southern California School of Drama and film from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.

JAMES UDOM (THE MILLER) is a third-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, where he has been seen in Sweat, If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must be a Muhfucka, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello, Bluebeard’s Wife, Some Bodies Travel, and Our Lady of 121st Street. His other credits include Thunder Above, Deeps Below; The Slow Sound of Snow (Yale Cabaret); Mies Julie (Yale Summer Cabaret); Tamburlaine (Theatre for a New Audience); Macbeth (The Public); The Winter’s Tale (Pearl Theatre Company); Julius Caesar (Shakespeare & Company); Of Mice and Men, King Lear (Hubbard Hall); Macbeth, Twelfth Night, and The Odyssey (We Players), among others. He has trained with Shakespeare & Company, Steppenwolf, and Dell’Arte International Ensemble. James is the recipient of the 2017 Princess Grace Award (Grace LeVine Theatre Award), and received the National Irene Ryan Scholarship Award for Best Actor in 2012.

SETAREKI WAINIQOLO (THE PRIEST) is a third-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, where his credits include ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore, The Three Sisters, and Our Lady of 121st Street. He also appeared in An Enemy of the People at Yale Repertory Theatre. Originally from Fiji, he holds a BA in theatre arts from California Lutheran University.

CURTIS WILLIAMS (THE CAPTAIN) is a third-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, where his credits include Sweat, Othello, Escape from Happiness, Wrong River, The Three Sisters, and Some Bodies Travel. He holds a BA in acting from Santa Fe University of Art and Design, where he performed in Den of Thieves, Our Lady of 121st Street, Confessional, and Middletown.

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CREATIVE TEAM YAARA BAR (PROJECTION DESIGNER) is a second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. Her credits include Xander Xyst, Dragon: 1, The Red Tent, Butterfly Terror (Yale Cabaret); and Lear (Yale Summer Cabaret). She holds a BA in visual communication from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem, where she worked as a motion and graphic designer.

KEVIN BELCHER (TECHNICAL DIRECTOR) is a second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, where his credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (technical director), the 2017 Carlotta Festival of New Plays (assistant technical director), and Bulgaria! Revolt! (master electrician). Prior to Yale, Kevin was an Operations Supervisor for the AT&T Performing Arts Center. After earning a BA in theatre arts from the University of North Texas, he worked at WaterTower Theatre, Dallas Children’s Theater, and Shakespeare Dallas.

JOHN BONDI-ERNOEHAZY (SCENIC DESIGNER) is a second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. His credits include Collisions at Yale Cabaret.

He has assisted and supported designers such as Alexander Dodge, Todd Rosenthal, and David Korins, and worked on theatrical and industrial designs with Doyale Werle Design and Bentley Meeker Lighting and Sound in New York. He was a design and production teacher at the Lavilla School of the Arts in Jacksonville, Florida, before coming to Yale. He holds a BA in history and economics from Fordham University.

JOHN CARLIN (STAGE MANAGER) is a second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, where his credits include Othello, Blood Wedding, and If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka. Other credits include Assassins (Yale Repertory Theatre, production assistant); Brigadoon (Goodman Theatre); At the Old Place (Arden Theatre Company); Funnyman, You Can’t Take It With You, Mothers and Sons, Butler, Discord (Northlight Theatre); Fantastical Family Nights, Fascinating Rhythm (Transcendence Theatre Company); and Current Location (Yale Cabaret). He has also worked with About Face Theatre, Pegasus Theatre Company, and Piccolo Theatre Company. John is a proud graduate of Loyola University Chicago where he received his BA in theatre with a focus in stage management and lighting design.

SAMUEL KWAN CHI CHAN (LIGHTING DESIGNER) is a second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, where he designed Othello. Other designs include Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again., Mrs. Galveston, and The Quonsets (Yale Cabaret). Born and educated in Hong Kong, Samuel has designed lighting and video for dance, opera and various forms of theatre in Hong Kong and Macau.

He collaborated with Yat Po Singers (Music Theatre), Rooftop Production (Physical Theatre), Unlock Dancing Plaza, Four Degrees Dance Laboratory, Macau Experimental Theatre, Hong Kong Ballet and Hong Kong Academy for 12

Performing Arts (Dance & Opera), among others. Samuel is one of the founders of Inspire Workshop, where he experimented with the use of interactive media and video in political theatre. He holds a BFA in lighting design from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and BSc in physics and political theory from the University of Hong Kong. samuelcvlx.com

MICHAEL COSTAGLIOLA (MUSIC DIRECTOR AND SOUND DESIGNER) is a third-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, where his credits include Everything That Never Happened, The Hour of Great Mercy, Bluebeard’s Wife, and Bulgaria! Revolt! (composition and arrangement). Other credits include Styx Songs, Xander Xyst, Dragon: 1 (Yale Cabaret), Antony + Cleopatra (Yale Summer Cabaret); and The Moors (Yale Repertory Theatre, assistant sound designer).

He studied music at Brown University, where he received the Weston Award for Music Composition. He is a teaching artist in sound design for the Roundabout Theatre Company and is the resident composer for the AntiGravity Theatre Project. His work has been heard in New York at La MaMa E.T.C., Manhattan Theatre Club, Dixon Place, Incubator Arts Project, the PRELUDE Festival, and the Brick Theater, among others, as well as at various theatres in Providence, Philadelphia, Boston, Madrid, and across Europe and India.

MIKA H. EUBANKS (COSTUME DESIGNER) is a second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. Her credits include Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again., In the Red and Brown Water, One Big Breath (Yale Cabaret); Harry and the Thief (Strand Theater); Animals out of Paper (Silver Spring Theater); The Clothesline Muse (National Black Theatre Festival); Oh Dad, Poor Dad Mama’s Hung You in the Closet and I’m Feeling So Sad (Annex Theater); 12 Daughters of Dance (Muse 360); and Much Ado About Nothing (Morgan State University). Hailing from Baltimore, Mika has worked at Center Stage, the Hippodrome, and Rift Studio Art Gallery, where she was a co-founder. She earned the Jada Pinkett Smith Applied Arts Award in 2015, and holds a BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art.

SHADI GHAHERI (DIRECTOR) is a third-year MFA candidate from Tehran, Iran. At Yale School of Drama, she has directed William Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus and Wrong River by Josh Wilder. Recent directing credits include The Slow Sound of Snow, Faryadaa, and Butterfly’s Terror (Yale Cabaret). She served as assistant director on Cymbeline at Yale Rep. As Co-Artistic Director of Yale Summer Cabaret’s 2017 season, she co-curated a four-play season, directing Ellen McLaughlin’s The Trojan Women, and Lear by Young Jean Lee. Shadi holds a BA from Tehran’s Shahid Beheshti University, where she was the first female president of the University Theatre Club. She directed Art, and devised a piece based on texts by Strindberg, O’Neill, and Pinter called A Stranger Walking in My Room. Her adaptation of The House of Bernarda Alba

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CREATIVE TEAM was banned by government censors in 2011. She continued working as a director, leading workshops at Iranian refugee camps for Afghani children fleeing the war in their country. Shadi was a 2016 Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow and is the 2017–18 recipient of the John Badham Scholarship in Directing. shadighaheri.com

IMAN RAAD (VISUAL ARTIST AND MURALIST) is an artist currently living and working in Brooklyn. He mounted his first solo exhibition in New York at Sargent’s Daughters gallery earlier this year, which was reviewed in The New York Times, Artnet, Vogue, Vice, and Timeout New York. Aside from exhibiting internationally, Raad is also a highly acclaimed graphic designer, included in Graphic: 500 Designs that Matter (Phaidon, 2017). Born in Mashad, Iran, Raad received his MFA in painting and printmaking from Yale University in 2017.

ARIEL SIBERT (PRODUCTION DRAMATURG) is a third-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, where her credits include Titus Andronicus. Her other credits include The Trojan Women, Lear (Yale Summer Cabaret); Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again., Slouch, The Slow Sound of Snow, This American Wife, and Kaspar (Yale Cabaret). Her writing has appeared in Text and Presentation, Theater magazine, and American Theatre. She has been the Literary Management and Dramaturgy Intern at Actor Theatre of Louisville, where she was the Dramaturg for the Apprentice Company’s 2014–15 Season. She graduated with honors with a BA in art history from Princeton University.

$10 Ticket

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U s e yo u r p t h r o u g h o ass t i c k e t s i n a n u t t h e 20 17–18 Seays c o m b i n a t i o n on!

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DEATH OF YAZDGERD STAFF

YALE SCHOOL OF DRAMA STAFF

ARTISTIC

James Bundy, Dean Victoria Nolan, Deputy Dean Chantal Rodriguez, Associate Dean Kelvin Dinkins, Jr., Assistant Dean

Gordon Landenberger, Assistant Scenic Designer Stephanie Bahniuk, Assistant Costume Designer Evan Christian Anderson, Assistant Lighting Designer Erin Sullivan, Assistant Projection Designer Emily Duncan Wilson, Assistant Sound Designer and Engineer Fabiola Feliciano Bastista, Assistant Stage Manager

PRODUCTION Austin J. Byrd, Associate Production Manager Samantha Else, Rajiv Shah, Assistant Technical Directors Jon West, Properties Master Alex McNamara, Master Electrician Bryanna Kim, Projection Engineer Benjamin Jones, Stage Carpenter Krista Smith, Light Board Programmer Noah Diaz, Margaret E. Douglas, Elsa GibsonBraden, Jessica Hernandez, Ruoxi Jia, Jecamiah Ybañez, Run Crew

ADMINISTRATION Gwyneth Muller, House Manager

SPECIAL THANKS Leila Ansari, Fareshteh Ganjavi, Roberta Dougherty, Council on Middle East Studies, Foundation of Iranians of Connecticut, Inc., Dr. Abbas Amanat, Soheil Parsa, Bahram Beyzai

Death of Yazdgerd December 5–9, 2017 Iseman Theater, 1156 Chapel Street

THE TAKING OF PHOTOGRAPHS OR THE USE OF RECORDING DEVICES OF ANY KIND DURING THE PERFORMANCE IS PROHIBITED.

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Artistic Management Jennifer Kiger, Associate Artistic Director Director of New Play Programs James Mountcastle, Production Stage Manager Amy Boratko, Literary Manager Kay Perdue Meadows, Artistic Associate Jocelyn Prince, Artistic Coordinator Ashley Chang, Literary Associate Josie Brown, Senior Administrative Assistant to the Artistic Director and Associate Artistic Director Laurie Coppola, Senior Administrative Assistant for the Directing, Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism, Playwriting, and Stage Management Departments Kate Begley Baker, Senior Administrative Assistant for the Design and Sound Design Departments Ellen Lange, Senior Administrative Assistant for the Acting Department Lindsay King, Library Services

PRODUCTION Production Management Shaminda Amarakoon, Director of Production Jonathan Reed, Production Manager C. Nikki Mills, Associate Head of Production and Student Labor Supervisor Grace O’Brien, Senior Administrative Assistant to the Production and Theater Safety and Occupational Health Departments Scenery Neil Mulligan, Matt Welander, Technical Directors Alan Hendrickson, Electro Mechanical Laboratory Supervisor Eric Sparks, Shop Foreman Matt Gaffney, Ryan Gardner, Sharon Reinhart, Libby Stone, Master Shop Carpenters Jessica Hernandez, Erin Tiffany, Assistants to the Technical Directors

Painting ADMINISTRATION Ru-Jun Wang, Scenic Charge General Management Lia Akkerhuis, Nathan Jasunas, Adam J. Frank, Ruoran Li, Melissa Rose, Scenic Artists Associate Managing Directors Hyejin Son, Assistant to the Painting Laura Cornwall, Gwyneth Muller, Assistant Supervisor Managing Directors Emalie Mayo, Senior Administrative Properties Assistant to the Deputy Dean, Associate Jennifer McClure, Properties Master Dean, and Assistant Dean David P. Schrader, Properties Craftsperson Lucia Bacqué, Dani Barlow, Management Ashley Flowers, Properties Assistant Assistants Bill Batschelet, Properties Stock Manager Lisa D. Richardson, Company Manager (on leave) Lucia Bacqué, Laurie Ortega-Murphy, Amanda Creech, Madeleine Winward, Assistant Company Managers Assistants to the Properties Master Development and Alumni Affairs Costumes Deborah S. Berman, Director of Tom McAlister, Costume Shop Manager Development and Alumni Affairs Harry Johnson, Clarissa Wylie Youngberg, Janice Muirhead, Senior Associate Director Mary Zihal, Senior Drapers of Institutional Giving Deborah Bloch, Patricia Van Horn, Susan C. Clark, Senior Associate Director of Senior First Hands Operations for Development and Alumni Linda Kelley-Dodd, Costume Project Affairs Coordinator Joanna Romberg, Senior Associate Director Denise O’Brien, Wig and Hair Design of Annual Giving and Special Projects Barbara Bodine, Company Hairdresser Al Heartley, Associate Director of Elizabeth Beale, Costume Stock Manager Development and Alumni Affairs Logan Baker, Assistant to the Costume Jennifer E. Alzona, Senior Administrative Shop Manager Assistant to Development and Marketing & Communications Electrics Alice Kenney, Development Associate Donald W. Titus, Lighting Supervisor Jean Gresham, Interim Development Jennifer Carlson, Linda-Cristal Young, Associate Senior Head Electricians Dani Barlow, Development Assistant Sound Mike Backhaus, Sound Supervisor Stephanie Smith, Staff Sound Engineer Roxy Jia, Assistant to the Sound Supervisor Daniela Fresard, Assistant to the Lighting Supervisor Projections Erich Bolton, Projection Supervisor Mike Paddock, Head Projection Technician Ellen Reid, Assistant to the Projection Supervisor Stage Operations Janet Cunningham, Stage Carpenter Elizabeth Bolster, Wardrobe Supervisor Billy Ordynowicz, Head Properties Runner Jacob Riley, FOH Mix Engineer David WIllmore, Light Board Programmer

Finance and Human Resources Katherine D. Burgueño, Director of Finance and Human Resources Erin Ethier, Business Manager Janna J. Ellis, Director, Yale Tessitura Consortium Stacie Wcislo, Business Office Analyst Preston Mock, Teressa Reese, Business Office Specialists Karen M. Areda, Interim Business Office Specialist Shainn Reaves, Senior Administrative Assistant to Business Office, Digital Technology, Operations, and Tessitura Ashlie Russell, Business Office Assistant Marketing, Communications, and Audience Services Daniel Cress, Director of Marketing Steven Padla, Director of Communications

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YALE SCHOOL OF DRAMA STAFF

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Caitlin Griffin, Senior Associate Director of Marketing and Communications Sylvia Xiaomeng Zhang, Associate Director of Marketing and Communications Malenky Welsh, Marketing Assistant Marguerite Elliott, Publications Manager Laura Kirk, Director of Audience Services Shane Quinn, Assistant Director of Audience Services Tracy Baldini, Subscriptions Coordinator Roger-Paul Snell, Audience Services Assistant Mikaela Boone, Sara Cho, Jordan Graf, Nicolette Mรกntica, Kenneth Murray, Alexis Payne, Amir Rezvani, Elijah Weaver, Box Office Assistants T. Charles Erickson, Production Photographer

Andy Mastriano, Sherry Stanley, Team Leaders Michael Humbert, Marcia Riley, Facility Stewards Tylon Frost, James Hansberry, Rodney Heard, Kathy Langston, Patrick Martin, Andy Martino, Shanna Ramos, Mark Roy, Custodians

Operations Diane Galt, Director of Facility Operations Nadir Balan, Operations Associate Jennifer Draughn, Michael Halpern, Arts and Graduate Studies Superintendents

Theater Safety and Occupational Health Anna Glover, Director of Theater Safety and Occupational Health Kevin Delaney, Ed Jooss, John Marquez, Customer Service and Safety Officers

Digital Technology Chris Kilbourne, Director of Digital Technology Andre Griffith, Digital Technology Associate Luis Serrano, Web and Email Services Associate Don Harvey, Ron Rode, Ben Silvert, Database Application Consultants

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