THE DOLL BEHIND THE  CURTAIN is a study of exile and obsession. Based on a short story by the great Iranian Writer, Sadegh Hedayat, it set in Le Havre and Tehran in the 1930s, MEHRDAD, a shy, withdrawn young Iranian studying in Le Havre, nurses a dangerous obsession with a MANNEQUIN, a beautiful image of womanhood in alabaster that he glimpsed in the window of junk shop. On the eve of his return to Iran, to his father’s business and marriage to his cousin Bita, he has a troubling conversation with the worldly principle of the college, MÂITRE, which confirms his sense of isolation. Afterwards he wanders down to the harbour quarter and the sinister junk shop where he first saw the MANNEQUIN. On impulse, he buys the MANNEQUIN from the knowing old shopkeeper, TOMBEAU. The need to possess this vision of unchanging femininity begins MEHRDAD’S descent into degradation and self-destruction.

Returning to Tehran, MEHRDAD finds it impossible to readjust to his old life. Despite the wishes of his parents he rejects the vulnerable, unworldly Bita. He spends his evenings in his room, communing with the MANNEQUIN. Fuelled by alcohol, he feels a mixture of adoration and resentment for the power she holds over him. During the day, Bita, heartbroken by his rejection, goes into his room to confront her rival, only to fall under the MANNEQUIN’S spell. In secret, she begins to emulate the MANNEQUIN, whitening her skin to resemble alabaster, and making an exact copy of the MANNEQUIN’S green silk dress. That evening, MEHRDAD returns to his room. Drunk and angry at his inability to break free from the MANNEQUIN, he decides he must destroy her, not knowing that BITA is in the room, prepared to bring the model to life in a last attempt to win MEHRDAD back. As a storm rages over Tehran, the scene is set for the final tragedy. Sadegh Hedayat’s brilliant exploration of the dilemma of the cultural and sexual exile provides a powerful psychological narrative for The Doll Behind the Curtain. Its protagonist, caught between two Persian and European worlds and cannot find a home in either. His struggle to resolve his dilemma forces him to face the shadows in his own psyche, with fatal consequences.