Vancouver 
Events Description
TAFF Art Society and VIVA Alliance present To Love Or Not To Love
A play by Majid Tafreshi
To Love Or Not To Love is an original absurd play-within-a-half-musical inspired by Nezami Ganjavi’s timeless Romantic Epic Poem – Khosrow and Shirin. Set inside a contemporary rehearsal room, the play follows a group of actors as they attempt to stage the ancient love story, only to find their own relationships, desires, and unresolved pasts gradually intertwining with the myth they are performing.
As rehearsals unfold, the boundaries between actor and character begin to dissolve. The legendary love triangle of Khosrow, Shirin, and Farhad transforms into a mirror reflecting questions of love, power, identity, migration, cultural representation, and the lasting scars of war. Blending live music, classical Persian poetry, humour, and absurd theatricality, the production invites audiences into a world where myth and reality constantly collide.
The production is inspired by Nezami Ganjavi’s twelfth-century masterpiece Khosrow and Shirin, one of the greatest romantic epics in Persian literature. The poem tells the story of Khosrow, the King of Persia, and Shirin, an Armenian princess whose love endures years of separation, political conflict, and personal sacrifice. Their relationship is complicated by Farhad, a gifted sculptor who falls deeply in love with Shirin. Farhad’s unwavering devotion and tragic fate have made him one of the enduring symbols of selfless love in Persian culture.
Rather than adapting the original story, To Love Or Not To Love reimagines its emotional and philosophical themes through the lens of a contemporary rehearsal, exploring how these ancient questions continue to resonate in today’s world.
HOW MUCH
Tickets:
$39.36 – $61.19 +fees
How to get tickets?
WHEN & WHERE
Date & Time:
August 27 to 30, 2026
Thursday | 7:30pm
Friday | 7:30pm
Saturday | 4:00pm & 7:30pm
Sunday | 4:00pm
Venue:
Annex Theatre,
823 Seymour St, Vancouver
Public Transit Accessible
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