TEHRAN – Iranian actor and theater director Akbar Zanjanpour will stage the play “The Island,” written by South African playwright Athol Fugard, at the Tehran’s City Theater from September 16.

The play has been translated by Mohammad Hefazi; Zanjanpour will also perform in the 75-minute performance alongside Saeed Dakh.

The apartheid-era drama, inspired by a true story, is set in an unnamed prison clearly based on South Africa's notorious Robben Island prison, where Nelson Mandela was held for twenty-seven years. The Island focuses on two cellmates, one whose successful appeal means that his release draws near and one who must remain in prison for many years to come. They spend their days performing futile physical labor and nights rehearsing in their cell for a performance of Sophocles' “Antigone” in front of the other prisoners. One takes the part of Antigone, who defies the laws of the state to bury her brother, and the other takes the part of her uncle Creon, who sentences her to die for her crime of conscience.

The play draws parallels between Antigone's situation and the situation of black political prisoners. Tensions arise as the performance approaches, especially when one of the prisoners learns that he has won an early release and the men's friendship is tested.

The play was first performed in Cape Town, at a theatre called The Space, in July 1973. In order to evade the draconian censorship in South Africa at the time (plays dealing with prison conditions, etc., were prohibited), the play premiered under the title, “Die Hodoshe Span”. It was next staged at the Royal Court Theater in London and then made its way to Broadway in 1974.

Athol Fugard (1932 – 2025) was a South African playwright, novelist, actor, and director. Widely regarded as South Africa's greatest playwright and acclaimed as "the greatest active playwright in the English-speaking world" by Time magazine in 1985, he published more than 30 plays.

He is best known for his political and penetrating plays opposing the system of apartheid, some of which have been adapted to film. His novel “Tsotsi” was adapted as a film of the same name, which won an Academy Award in 2005. Three plays he wrote, and two plays he co-authored, were nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play.

SS/SAB