This is an exciting time to be in Iran. I'm here for the Fadjr Festival, the annual international festival organised by the government's Dramatic Arts Centre, looking for opportunities to build stronger links between Iranian and British theatre artists and with the hope of seeing some outstanding Iranian theatre to bring to London.

 

Over the last four days I've seen an eclectic mix of shows - from traditional puppetry to performance art - that demonstrates a rich hunger for theatre as a forum for personal, social and political expression. Much of the work is deliberately rich in symbolism and metaphor, enabling forbidden topics and taboos to subtlety examined and expressed under the ever watchful gaze of the religious censors.

 

Our party of six British presenters and producers (Gavin Stride, Hamish MacDonald, Nelson Fernandez, Roger McCann, Yvette Vaughn Jones and me) are being carefully watched at all times by two very courteous, but slightly excitable young minders from the British Embassy. We have a strict schedule

- which includes watching 3 hours of Iranian theatre on DVD every morning!

followed by shows in the afternoon and evening - and we're not allowed to arrange independent meetings or go anywhere unaccompanied. It's clear that in the febrile political atmosphere here that's not just for our safety, but the safety of those we might want to come into contact with. It's also a way of course of the authorities keeping us on a tight leash.