Review · Radio Zamaneh
The king as a dramatic person
Kadkhodaei asks how the Shah speaks, thinks and behaves within The Tragedy of a Monarchy.
- Credited to
- Masoud Kadkhodaei
- Publication
- Radio Zamaneh
- Source date
- 4 September 2022
- Published language
- Persian
- This page
- English source guide
Works discussed
Original English editorial guide to the attributed Persian-language source. The critic’s interpretations remain theirs; the full source stays with its publisher.
Names changed, a history recognisable
Kadkhodaei begins with the historical recognisability of the king and his circle, even where the play changes names. He asks whether the title would be more precise if it explicitly named Mohammad Reza Shah. His question concerns the relation between a particular history and the play’s wider ambition. Source 1
His account follows the two-act structure from the young king’s accession through later crisis, illness and exile. He attends to dialogue and to the figure’s hesitations, beliefs, mistrust and responses to those around him. These are observations about the dramatic character Rabihavi has constructed. Source 1
How a ruler is made visible
The review recognises research behind the play while turning repeatedly to its details. What the king says and how he reacts matter more to Kadkhodaei’s reading than a general statement about monarchy. He makes the ruler available for examination as a person situated among competing pressures. Source 1
This source responds to the printed text. Its language of placing events on a stage should not supply an unrecorded performance, cast or venue. The bibliography retains the Persian two-act play as a book, with the separate theatre record following documented presentations. Source 1
Sources & credits
- Masoud Kadkhodaei · the Shah in Rabihavi’s play
Persian review of The Tragedy of a Monarchy, 4 September 2022. Discussion of the printed play does not establish a staged production.