Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World - by Javaad Alipoor & Chris Thorpe (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

It's the 1970s, and Fereydoun Farrokhzad's star is blazing bright - he's a sex symbol and chart-topping pop singer. Imagine an Iranian Tom Jones. A decade on and he's living in political exile in Germany, though still selling out the Royal Albert Hall. Then, on 7 August 1992, he's found brutally murdered. The neighbors said his dogs had been barking for two nights. The case has never been solved.

Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World is an investigation into the nature of investigation; part free-wheeling lecture, part podcast and part play. It is a thrilling ride down the rabbit hole of Wikipedia and true-crime podcasts, sorting through the tangle of information available online to reveal the limits of the search engines in solving a decades-old cold case.

Originally produced by The Javaad Alipoor Company in 2022, this witty, fast-paced and cutting-edge play, by Javaad Alipoor with Chris Thorpe, was co-commissioned by HOME and the National Theatre of Parramatta. It has toured worldwide, including a run at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, during the 2023 Festival Fringe.

Review Quotes

"The show gleefully mashes up genres, smashing together the quiet authority of the murder mystery podcast, the intimacy of autobiographical storytelling, and the visual spectacle of multimedia performance - while simultaneously deconstructing each of these forms... this is a dazzling argument for complexity."--Guardian

"...the piece that Alipoor and co-writer Chris Thorpe have cooked up is isn't just an indulgent show about a show. It is a wild, strange, exhilarating free-form creation that touches on the nature of reality itself, that both recognises the futility of trying to see the world truthfully but feels ablaze with the possibilities of the attempt."--Time Out

About the Author

Javaad Alipoor is a Manchester-based writer, director and maker-performer working across different media including theatre, TV, digital forms and film.

As writer, director and performer, his work includes: Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World (HOME Manchester & Battersea Arts Centre, 2023); Rich Kids (Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, & HOME 2019); and The Believers Are But Brothers (2017 Edinburgh Fringe, Bush Theatre, and national and international tour).

He runs the Javaad Alipoor Company.

Chris Thorpe is a writer and performer from Manchester. He often works collaboratively with other artists and organisations, and his work has toured widely and been produced in many countries.

His plays include: Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World, with Javaad Alipoor (BAC, HOME and Sydney Festival); Status (China Plate Theatre, 2018); Victory Condition (Royal Court Theatre, 2017); and There Has Possibly Been an Incident (Manchester Royal Exchange/Latitude/Edinburgh, 2013).