Blind Runner

The fates of three long-distance runners intertwine in this acclaimed production by the renowned Iranian Mehr Theatre Group to create a poetic stage thriller with magnificent protagonists, minimalist sets and powerful film sequences. A woman is imprisoned as a political prisoner of the mullah regime; her husband is allowed to visit her once a week. But what do you talk about when every word is listened to and there is little new to report? The two have completed marathons together, but now their relationship is running out of steam. Only hesitantly and at his wife’s urging does the man take on a new task: he becomes a running coach for a blind woman and makes her lifelong dream of participating in the Paris Marathon come true. The intimacy of their training sessions leads to a close bond with the young woman – and a dangerous plan to escape to a different life and make a political statement: they want to reach Great Britain by crossing the 38-kilometre-long Eurostar tunnel to England overnight. But between the last train of the evening and the first train of the following day, which would catch them, there are only a few hours… Iranian director Amir Reza Koohestani creates a poetic web of relationships in which the hypnotic rhythm of running becomes a metaphor for the longing for freedom. Koohestani is considered one of the most important Iranian theatre makers of his generation. In Germany, he works at the Munich Kammerspiele, the Deutsches Theater in Berlin and the Thalia Theater, among others.

– – –
What the press say:

‘Stunningly performed and with a restrained use of video, the piece not only attacks any form of oppression but asks whether athleticism itself is potentially a form of protest.’
The Guardian

‘A theatre evening that unfolds poetic power.‘
Hamburger Abendblatt

‘In “Blind Runner”, the political and the private, which is systematically destroyed, are condensed into one tremendous hour.’
Tagesspiegel