Song of the North

About the Show

During a time of fragile peace between rival kingdoms, the princess Manijeh must summon all her strength and skills to rescue her beloved, Bijan, from a perilous predicament of her own making. Can their love quiet the drumbeat of war? Shadows from 9 performers and 483 handmade puppets play against stunning animated projections in a cinematic performance as epic as the story that inspired it. Pulled from the pages of the Shahnameh—the thousand-year-old Persian Book of Kings—Song of the North trumpets unity, compassion and the beauty of Iranian culture.

Created, designed and directed by Hamid Rahmanian

Things to Know

1. What did that puppet say? Song of the North will feature captioning on screens throughout the theater.
2. A literary masterpiece central to Persian language and culture, the Shahnameh preserves centuries of history and legends from pre-Islamic Iran.
3. Before the show starts, you’ll get a glimpse of the performers setting up their hundreds of puppets and props on stage!

About the Artist

Iranian-American artist Hamid Rahmanian founded Fictionville Studio in 1998 to produce both documentary and narrative films. In the decades since, he has merged his love of traditional Persian art forms like illustration and shadow puppetry with the technology of modern theater to breathe new life into the beloved tales of the Shahnameh. This extends beyond the stage as well, with a new English translation of the full epic poem and colorful pop-up books of individual stories.