AEF2026: Afsaneh Mahian: The Child

This summer, Athens Epidaurus Festival's main city venue, the former industrial complex in Pire0s 260, celebrates 20 years as one of the city’s most vital cultural meeting points. Under the artistic direction of Michail Marmarinos, this year’s landmark programme unfolds across two months of theatre, dance, music, performance, and multidisciplinary works, bringing together more than 50 events by acclaimed international artists alongside some of the most exciting voices from Greece’s contemporary scene. Pireos 260 will live through the Athenian summer as a dynamic space where emerging creators, established names, and curious audiences come together to explore what contemporary performance can be today. New collaborations, technology-driven works, and immersive experiences sit alongside bold theatrical productions, live music, and cutting-edge choreography.

Amongst these powerful international features is The Child by Naghmeh Samini, presented as part of the festival's dedicated "Voices of Iran" strand. Directed by Tehran-born Afsaneh Mahian, this gripping production opens and closes with an urgent question: which human bodies are valued, and which are deemed undesirable? Set on a Western European coast, the story follows three abused women from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya who have been detained for interrogation and potential deportation. What unites them is not just their traumatic journey to Europe, but a newborn infant they have brought with them.

As an immigration official interrogates them one by one, a desperate and deeply protective act of love unfolds: each woman fiercely denies being the child's mother. By refusing maternity, they hope that even if they are deported, the infant will be allowed to remain safely in Europe. Starring the internationally acclaimed actress Fatemeh Motamed-Arya and performed entirely on a strip of sand, this raw, minimal staging strips away theatrical pretense. Performed in Persian with surtitles to preserve the emotional immediacy of the original text, the play serves as a profound reminder of the human lives existing behind institutional paperwork.