Bye-Gones ،بایگان
Case File 02 — An Encounter with Living Theatre

The second case file in the Bye-Gones series turned to Living Theatre’s 1967 production of Antigone, beginning with a simple question:

“What remains to be seen in what has survived?”

Curated by Mahsa Mokhtarpour, the case file brought the surviving materials of Antigone into a new encounter. Across both days, the programme followed the same structure: a screening of the filmed performance followed by a 20-minute video installation developed through the curator’s engagement with the materials left from the production.

One of the longest processes behind the project was the translation and preparation of Persian subtitles for Antigone. The work took place over the course of a year within Saye Theatre Group’s translation working group.

The difficulty of the text came partly from the particular route it had taken before reaching the stage. The version used by Living Theatre did not move directly from Sophocles’ original to the performance. In shaping the production, Judith Malina worked through Brecht’s text as well as earlier translations and adaptations of Antigone, leaving a layered textual history behind the performance.

The film of the performance opened one path into this history. The video installation created another.

In the installation, paintings by Lancy Pero were placed alongside bodies and gestures captured from the Antigone performance. The juxtaposition brought together two artistic experiences separated by time and medium, while allowing another connection to emerge between them: the strong presence of Antonin Artaud in both.

The archival materials therefore began to speak to one another. Images, bodies, painting, and traces of a performance were placed in the same space, allowing new relationships to emerge between them and between the past and the viewer standing before it.

The event took place over two days, with a total attendance of 70 participants.

Credits

Curator: Mahsa Mokhtarpour
Video: Kasra Kamaei, Mahsa Mokhtarpour
Installation and Lighting: Narges Sadeghian, Morteza Abdolmaleki
Research: Mahsa Mokhtarpour, Mahsa Beygverdi
Advisors: Armin Jafarian, Zahra Rad
With thanks to: Arezoo Zaheeri, Romina Rostami

Bye-Gones | بایگان
A series of events by Saye Theatre Group
September 3–4, 2026
Farvardin Art House, Tehran