Theatre Laundering

6.30pm – Pay What You Can £17.00 / £15.00 / £13.00

Virgule Film and Performing Arts Company presents Theatre Laundering, an immersive production that brings together three theatrical portraits exploring the choices we face at life-defining moments. Inspired by the lives of Iranian-Dutch photographer Newsha Tavakolian, composer Setareh Nafisi, and theatre-maker Marene van Holk, the play uses interactive parallel narration to draw audiences into the worlds of these artists and illuminate the challenges they have faced as creative artists, migrants, and individuals.

Created through a collaboration between the acclaimed playwright Naghmeh Samini and the innovative director Arvand Dashtaray, the production transforms lived experience into a dynamic theatrical encounter, inviting audiences to question their own assumptions, perceptions, and choices.

At the heart of the play is a provocative contrast between theatre in Iran and Western Europe. In Iran, theatre is often a space of multilayered interpretation, collaboration, and shared risk, demanding active audience engagement. In Western Europe, artists face a different challenge: can theatre still shape public discourse, provoke social change, or offer emancipatory visions? Theatre Laundering pushes these questions further. Which stories are we willing to hear? Which versions are considered acceptable? And must difficult realities be softened, translated, or reframed before they can cross borders?

Performed primarily in English, with occasional Dutch and Persian dialogue accompanied with English surtitles, the production offers a genuinely multilingual and intercultural experience.

Running time: 2 hour performance will be followed by a post-show discussion moderated by Dr Saeed Talajooy, Senior Lecturer in Persian at the University of St Andrews School of Modern Languages.