Following the Gate recent announcement of the UK premiere Wish You Were Here by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Sanaz Toossi, the theatre today announced that it has commissioned three writers to each write a short play to be performed alongside the production.
Wish You Were Here will open at Theatro Technis @ 26 Crowndale on Thursday 24 October to Saturday 23 November and these new commissions will run on Friday 8, 15 and 22 November following the performance.
Sepy Baghaei (who is directing Wish You Were Here) will direct new work by Jasmin Mandi-Ghomi, Afsaneh Gray and Melina Namdar. Each writer has been commissioned to write a 5–10-minute playlet responding to the theatre’s mission statement of telling stories beyond borders.
The Gate has a long tradition of looking outwards and central to this is its much-admired reputation for giving space to new voices with an international perspective. With this commitment the theatre continues to celebrate brilliance, originality and spirit and the multiplicity of identity amongst its artists and its audience.
At a time when the world and our own nation grows increasingly insular, the Gate continues its artistic purpose of fostering communication and understanding across borders, across languages, across cultures.
These commissions offer a unique opportunity to see new work by three British Iranian writers performed by cast members of the all-female cast of Wish You Were Here. The playlets will be performed over three consecutive Friday’s following the performance of Wish You Were Here. Casting for the production will be announced shortly.
