Dorr-e Dari: A Poetic Crash Course in the Language of Love

Switch off the dating apps, forget the nightclubs and tune in to a thousand-year strong tradition of courtly Persian love poetry.

Through intimate storytelling and epic ballads from the streets of Kabul, Tehran and Quetta, via Western Sydney, your hosts Hasiba, Jawad and Mahdi will guide you on the path to love.

Inspired by the tradition of private recitals and ‘curtain shows’ performed all through the Persian-speaking world, this rich and tender new theatre work will show you there’s a verse for every condition of the heart.

First Nations Elder Aunty Rhonda Dixon-Grovenor
Concept/ Co-Creator/ Performer 
Mahdi Mohammadi
Co-Creator/ Performer Jawad Yaqoubi
Co-Creator/ Performer Hasiba Ebrahimi
Guest Artist Jalal Nazari
Director Paul Dwyer
Video Artist Sean Bacon
Lighting Designer Neil Simpson
Production Manager Angela Tran
Dramaturg Bernadette Fam
Project Intern Olivia Xegas
Producer PYT Fairfield

Current Tours

Tour History
September 2022 – Sydney Opera House
August/September 2022 – Arts Centre Melbourne
December 2021 – PYT Fairfield
January 2021 – Sydney Festival, Carriageworks


This project has been developed in partnership with the University of Sydney. It has been generously supported by the Australia Council for the Arts and the NSW Government through Create NSW, Vitalstatistix, Crack Festival, The Lansdowne Foundation and the Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation.

Image Credit: Anna Kucera

Image Description: Taken during the Dorr-e Dari premiere at Sydney Festival 2021, Jawad, Bibi and Mahdi are holding a book and are turning in circles. The projection behind them is a deep night purple and white Persian text is displayed in circles that appear to never end.