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CHESS WITH THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE |
| Chess With the Doomsday Machine is Shahin Sayadi’s original adaptation of Iranian author Habib Ahmadzadeh’s novel of the same name.
The story takes place in the early months of the Iran/Iraq war and focuses on the experiences of Isa, a young Abadani soldier defending his hometown. He has been chosen to assist in destroying the enemy’s “Doomsday Machine”, an advanced radar system that was able to hone in on Iranian artillery emplacements almost as soon as they fired. This was initially devastating to the Iranian defence operations and it became a priority to locate the radar system so that it could be destroyed. Through Isa’s tale, we experience how Abadan was re-shaped by the war. Young men became soldiers, their fathers cooked for the forces and their mothers searched in vain for sons who did not return from the front. Row houses, once the humble dwelling of oil refinery workers, were burned out bunkers for street-fights. An ice cream factory storage freezer is commandeered as a morgue – the ice cream is passed out to unknowing soldiers. And a half-finished seven-story apartment building becomes Isa’s crow’s nest during his game of chess with the Doomsday Machine. This project is the third play that Onelight will be developing under the Civilian Project. The purpose of the Civilian Project is to explore the lived experiences of civilians in times of war and strife. |
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