Winter of '88

‘Winter of 88’ is an award-winning meta-theatrical and autobiographical piece based on the playwright and director Mohammad Yaghoubi’s traumatic experiences of the Iran-Iraq war. It is rooted – as explained in the play- in the guilt of surviving while witnessing many others who didn’t. The playwright wrote this play because he felt that he owed it to the people who lost their lives.

During an interview, Mohammad Yaghoubi explains: “the fear and insecurity I felt in the winter of 1988 has followed me all through my life. I felt powerless and vulnerable. We just waited for death to come and there was nothing we could do. People were killed everyday and to this day, I still carry the sense of shame for those fleeting moments of joy after hearing any missile attacks, which meant I was alive, knowing others were dead. I survived the Winter of 1988 so I had to write about it”.

First directed by the playwright in 1997, the play won for Outstanding Writing, Direction and Acting at the 16th International Theatre Festival of Iran.Widely recognized in Iran, Winter of 88 has been performed in Farsi by numerous Iranian Theatre groups.