For some time now, we at the Theater an der Ruhr have been working on the continuation of our series Aufbruch im Iran, which builds on our exchange with artists from Iran that has been going on for almost two decades. This continuation, in the form of a themed weekend at the beginning of February 2026, coincided with an unprecedented massacre:: in January, up to 30,000 people were murdered by the Iranian regime in just two days. The recent nationwide protests have been crushed by excessive violence – there can hardly be any talk of a new beginning at present. And yet, the shocking news reaching us from Iran makes it all the more urgent to focus our attention and sympathy on the struggle for freedom of the people there.

Most recently, we co-produced Mohammad Rasoulof's play Destination: Origin in 2025, which, in addition to questions of exile and identity, makes the recurring uprisings in Iran palpable as an echo of a society that refuses to be silenced. Three of the actors in the play also starred in Rasoulof's Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated film The Seed of the Sacred Fig. Like the director, they were subsequently forced into exile.
 

In light of the events in Iran, we would like to use our series Aufbruch im Iran to express our solidarity with the courageous people of Iran.