TEHRAN – Coinciding with the 40th day after the passing of the renowned playwright and director Bahram Beyzaie, “The Death of Yazdgerd,” one of his well-known plays, was staged on Thursday night at Sangelaj Theater in Tehran.

The play, written in 1979, has been performed many times by various directors from its first staging by the late Beyzaie at Tehran’s City Theater up to the present day that it is directed by Alireza Chavosh, IRNA reported.

Chavosh also performs in the play along with Azadeh Akbari, Mohammad Rabbani, Abbas Siavash, Mehdi Biabani, and Mehdi Farshidi Sepehr.

Before the performance, Chavosh, said: “Bahram Beyzaie’s works are timeless because they always reflect a clear image of the people of this land.”

He also explained the rehearsal and preparation process of the production, stating that the performance is the result of six to seven months of effort by the production team.

The play is often considered Beyzaie’s magnum opus, which he adapted into a film of the same name in 1982.

The story is based on the murder of Yazdgerd III, the last emperor of Sasanian Persia, who while being hard pressed by the Arabs on his western flank, fled to Marv, where he was slain by a miller in a mill, in which he had been taking refuge.

The film begins with the Zoroastrian high priest (magus) of the Persian Empire, accompanied by the imperial army commander, entering the mill to try the miller accused of murdering the emperor. The miller, his wife, and his daughter, while trying to exculpate themselves, all express a different version of the same incident. As the story shifts, more questions come up than are answered.

Bahram Beyzaie (1938 – 2025) was an Iranian filmmaker, playwright, theater director, researcher, and master of Persian literature, mythology, and Iranian studies.

Before he started making films in 1970, he was a leading playwright. Despite his belated start in cinema, Beyzaie is often considered a pioneer of a generation of filmmakers whose works are sometimes described as the Iranian New Wave. 

His artistic vision seamlessly intertwined Persian mythology, epic literature, particularly Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, and modern social issues, establishing him as a pioneering force in Iran’s cultural renaissance.

His “Bashu, the Little Stranger” (1986) was voted “Best Iranian Film of all time” in November 1999 by Persian movie magazine Picture World poll of 150 Iranian critics and professionals.

Other notable works by Beyzaie include “Downpour” (1972), “The Stranger and the Fog” (1974), “Ballad of Tara” (1979), “Maybe Some Other Time” (1988), “Travelers” (1992), and “Killing Mad Dogs” (2001).

Beyzaie has over 50 published plays. These works have occasionally appeared in French, English, German, and other languages.

Relocating to the United States in 2010, Beyzaie continued to nurture Iranian cultural traditions through his academic endeavors at Stanford University, where he introduced students and audiences worldwide to Persian theater, cinema, and mythology. His teaching and research kept alive the rich heritage of Iran’s artistic history, even as he remained actively engaged in his creative pursuits until the final years of his life.

“The Death of Yazdgerd” will remain on stage through March 11 at the Sangelaj Theater, located at Behesht St., south of the City Park.

SS/SAB