In the press
KISMET*
October 2007
BBC Scotland Radio Café
30/10/2007
To Listen Again go to BBC Scotland Radio Café and select Tuesday 30th October 2007
We are interested in hearing your thoughts and are open to future collaborations on new work.
Tales of the Arabian Nights
December 2006
The Stage
19/12/2006
Nazli Tabatabai - Khatambakhsh gives a robust account of Gerry Mulgrew ' s version of the Arabian Nights for ZENDEH, thanks to strong performances from her trio of professional actors who are joined by the cream of Theatre Workshop ' s community performers. She clearly shares Mulgrew ' s own understanding of the importance of the language in the evocation of a story and does not hold back from letting the florid take the tale to new heights of fantasy.
The Herald
19/12/2006
Right plum in the centre of that Cornucopia is ZENDEH ' s co-production (with Theatre Workshop) of some Tales of the Arabian Nights in a version by Gerry Mulgrew.... Director Nazli Tabatabai - Khatambakhsh understands just how magical this storytelling is, so she keeps the staging simple and carefully casts her company of professional and community players to fine effect... By the end we agree with the King who has been beguiled by Sharazad - we all want another story.
The Scotsman
19/12/2006
Nazli Tabatabai weaves the show together into a strangely spellbinding evening.
Evening News
19/12/2006
LUSCIOUS language and a hint of incense catch the threads of the many stories of the Arabian Nights at Theatre Workshop - until all are coiled up, one inside the next, to form a vast, all-encompassing tale.
This is an exotic production, for all its simplicity. And it has a real feel of Arabia about it, thanks to the association of Nazli Tabatabai - Khatambakhsh of the ZENDEH theatre company as director.
She allows the stories to tell themselves. She also makes excellent use of a trio of professional actors together with some of the best to rise up through Theatre Workshop's community plays.
KHAKI
Fringe 2006
Five Stars
Fringe Website
22/08/2006
stylistically beautiful, linguistically passionate and surprisingly witty
Scottish Theatre Web
Waiting Room
Fringe 2005
Five Stars
Scottish Theatre Web
16/08/2005
striking and thought provoking
The Stage
18/08/2005
this production is intelligently staged, with strong performances
The Scotsman
23/08/2005
Five Stars
edinburghguide.com
21/08/2005
The List - Preview
Theatre company ZENDEH (which, translated, means Alive), revive Isabel Wright's dark and poignant play about two women, forced together in the midst of an unnamed faith-civil war, finding refuge in the claustrophobia of an abandoned schoolroom. A complex relationship emerges with surreal shifts from playful to extreme intensity as horrifying secrets are revealed.
With her own experiences of was, artistic director Nazli Tabatabai deeply understands its effect on the human spirit. "We know this is a political play but we don't ever pin it to Kosovo or Iraq: the importance and value for us is the social context".
With the production having been nominated for the Amnesty Freedom of Expression Award, it sounds promising.
As Tabatabai says: "This play that is so very timely talks about the war waged on women's bodies and speaks of human rights in a human way"
Michelle Macintyre