Â鶹Éç

Even in wartime, normal life continues in Tehran but nothing is, or ever will be, quite the same.

In this new drama Reza, played by Paul Chahidi (This Life, Death of Stalin etc), is a taxi driver trying to make ends meet in a city under attack. He keeps the challenges of his own life at bay while he makes deep connections with each of his passengers, regardless of which section of society they emerge from.

From protesters to Government officials to former royalists, Reza’s taxi will carry them all and hear their stories. The tensions in Iranian society have not gone away but this war is bringing a new reality no one was expecting.

And life goes on. Today Reza may find the chance to release himself from his past and forge a new path.

Naz Sadoughi’s highly authentic new drama takes us inside the lives of those living in Tehran today, finding beauty and hope amidst the madness of conflict.

Nothing Is Normal by Naz Sadoughi

Reza ..... Paul Chahidi
Farzaneh ..... Souad Faress
Iraj ..... Kia Behnam
Davood ..... Dana Haqjoo
Leyla ..... Isabella Nefar

Other parts played by members of the company

Recording engineer , Paul Clark
Sound editor, Paul Cargill
Sound supervisor, Alisdair McGregor
Producer and director, Boz Temple-Morris

Nothing is Normal is a Holy Mountain production for Â鶹Éç Radio 4

NOTES FOR EDITORS

As with so much Iranian cinema, the drama is both realistic and poetic. Reza’s story is an intensely human one which makes the lived experience of Iranians immediately accessible to an audience who are inevitably fed a diet of war news.

Writer, director and almost all the cast are British Iranians whose connection to the current events are direct and personal. Paul Chahidi, also British Iranian, is well known to British audiences in a multitude of roles.

Writer Naz Sadoughi has written for Radio 4 before (Old Man in the Moon, 2019) and director Boz Temple-Morris has a long list of credits including dramas responding to events in Palestine (‘The Yafa Cherry Orchard’), Syria (‘Stories from Hay el Matar’ and ‘Yarmouk’) and Iran (‘Old Man in the Moon’).

As a reactive drama, preview audio will be available only just prior to broadcast. For further information please contact Radio 4 or the Producers directly at boz@holymountain.co.uk

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