Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World at HOME
Kristy Stott, Theatre Editor
The Manchester-based Javaad Alipoor Company open HOME’s new season of performance in Theatre 2 with a captivating new show, Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World.
Exploring digital culture, violence and postcolonialism, the production brings an exciting new collaboration between The Javaad Alipoor Company, HOME and Sydney’s National Theatre of Parramatta.
A new show focusing on the story of Fereydoun Farrokhzad, an Iranian popstar and refugee, who was brutally murdered in 1992.
Charting an investigation into a heinous murder and also, the method by which modern crimes are processed and investigated, this new show focuses on the story of Fereydoun Farrokhzad, an Iranian popstar and refugee, who was brutally murdered in 1992. The production reframes the unsolved murder case surrounding his death, and in turn, examines the process of investigation.
Fereydoun Farrokhzad was widely considered to be the Middle East’s greatest popstar of the ‘70s, comparable to Tom Jones or Freddie Mercury. A sex symbol and chart-topping icon. However, by 1981, Farrokhzad was living in political exile in Germany and working in a grocery store. Throughout his time as a refugee, he continued to play to adoring audiences in Europe, and six months prior to his murder had performed two sell-out shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall. On 7 August 1992, his body was discovered in his small flat in Bonn; the neighbours said that his dogs had been barking for two nights. Most chillingly, the case of his death was never solved.
The show places the mystery surrounding Farrokhzad’s death within a contemporary digital landscape.
Written by Javaad Alipoor and Chris Thorpe, the performance could be described as “an investigation into the nature of investigation” inspired by the “unsolved murder of a pop icon” at its core. Placing the mystery surrounding Farrokhzad’s death within a contemporary digital landscape, Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World takes its audience on a thrilling journey down the rabbit hole of murder mystery podcasts and the infinite tangle of information available online.
