TEHRAN – Iranian director and actor Ashkan Khatibi plans to stage prominent American playwright Sam Shepard’s play “Curse of the Starving Class” at Tehran’s Iranshahr Theater Complex on June 17. 

Written in 1977, the play is a dark comedy that tells the story of the Tates, a working-class family that is living in a farmhouse they are planning to sell, in the hopes of moving on to bigger and better things.

The play follows the lives of four members of the family. Weston is the alcoholic father who has driven his family deep into debt. Ella is the mother who is utterly burned-out and will do just about anything to leave her husband behind. Their daughter Emma is a smart and rebellious teen and their idealistic son Wesley is looking for a way to keep his family together while changing from a boy to a man.

The play has been published in Persian by Nila Publications in Tehran along with Shepard’s 1983 play “Fool for Love”, both translated by Khatibi, in a book titled “Love and Curse”.

Anahita Dargahi, Saeid Molavian, Nura Peydayeshfard and Hamun Seyyedi are the main members of the cast for the play, which has been re-written by Omid Sohrabi to be performed in Iran.

Photo: A poster for the play “Curse of the Starving Class” that will be staged by Iranian director Ashkan Khatibi in Tehran.

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