Winter of 88

A new apartment should be a warm and welcoming signal to a fresh chapter of life. It shouldn’t be where a family waits in the dark, surrounded by unpacked boxes, as missiles rain down around them.

Already eight years into the Iran–Iraq War, Nasrin and her two adult children—daughter Nahid and son Mahyar—just want to feel safe and settled. Tensions are already high, from bickering over who gets what room and what goes where to why Nahid’s husband left her. Mahyar leaves the apartment in a heated moment, leaving Nasrin racked with fear. As the missiles start to strike and the power goes out, Nahid tries to hold everything together. From that moment on, it’s about survival.

This heart-wrenching meta-autobiographical play, presented in both English and Farsi, is a window into days when death was practically a neighbour in war-torn Tehran. It’s a dedication to those who are left behind with the trauma of war and survivors’ guilt. Author Mohammad Yaghoubi survived it, so he had to write about it.

• The events of this play are based on the author’s real experiences during the Iran–Iraq War.
• The play premiered in Farsi in 1997 in Tehran.
• The book will be published in both English and Farsi.
• First produced in English at the Next Stage Theatre Festival, Toronto, in January 2020