The Fig Tree, and the Phoenix, and the Desire to Be Reborn

first play of the Tree Cycle

1m, 1w // 80 minutes // Eternal Cycle

In the Iranian province of Zanjan, in an orchard where all of the trees have gone to sleep, one remains ripe with fruit. Underneath its fig-studded branches, on the chilliest August night of 1988, eight-year-olds Mandana and Javeed meet for the first time—except somehow it doesn’t feel like the first time.

A story of what the world has been, what it is now, and what it could be.

Benjamin Rose Photography // Danny Bryck and Minou Pourshariati // Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, Feb-March 2025

“Despite the constant cycle of pain, misery and violence, [Sanatdar] Stevens’ play earnestly believes that it is possible for the world to be better, and you just can’t help but believe her.”

— Ellen Dong / Daily Free Press