Hostage Crisis: Andy Warhol in Iran, at Beck Center

Sixty years ago, Iran was an ally of the US. The two countries had made deals involving nuclear technology in exchange for access to petroleum, and it was the polite remains of that relationship that led to Andy Warhol’s 1976 trip to Iran to take photos of Empress Farah Pahlavi–wife of the Shah–as reference to make a painting of her. He did ultimately make a portrait of her, perhaps as many as 14 of them, though it is uncertain how many actually exist now, or where they all are. Apparently the Empress was a collector of contemporary art and had amassed a significant collection, along with leading the creation of several museums. The revolution and hostage crisis were still three years away.

That trip to photograph the Empress is the hanger on which playwright Brent Askari builds his truth-laden fiction, Andy Warhol in Iran, on stage October 3 – November 2 at Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood.

The play is smart and funny, and uses the circumstances to tell a story of human connection and introspection against a backdrop of historical truths about US involvement in the Middle East. Director Sarah May keeps it moving fast. Cameron Michalak’s scenic design uses projection behind a row of screens back stage to reinforce the history, the historic figures, and additional context.  The script includes some absolutely wonderful lines.

The story is set in a Tehran hotel room. Warhol is there by himself when room service knocks. It’s Farhad, who quickly reveals that he is there to kidnap the famous artist: he and his comrades in the revolution mean to use the attention to promote their cause. That’s fiction: there’s no record of any kidnapping attempt. But from there, Warhol and his kidnapper get to know each other a bit. The American artist is revealed to know very little about world affairs, while Farhad knows history well, and lives out its impact on his own life and his country.

The script both complicates and simplifies the reality of the trip. The attempted kidnapping, obviously, is the complication that drives the whole show. But historic truths are omitted, apparently to keep things simple. For example, writer Bob Colacello – who at the time was editor of Warhol’s Interview magazine—in reality accompanied Warhol on the trip. But he does not appear and is not mentioned in the play’s cast of two.

No matter: it’s not a history play or a documentary. The production keeps the evening light and funny.  Scott Esposito is a good Andy Warhol for the occasion, by turns coy and convincing in his introspection. He begins from a seat in the audience, asking them to imagine that they are talking on the phone because he doesn’t like to talk directly to people. Throughout the night his delivery plays on our perceptions of Warhol: is he shallow, in fact, or profound? And when he is profound, does it happen by accident?

Some of his best lines come in a monologue near the end: “Revolutions remind me of /  The repetitions in my paintings.  / They’re just copies / of copies, / One after the other, / Pretty much the same, / With just slight variations / To show people they’re a little different. / That way / You can sell / More of them.”

Kareem Mchaourab is the nervous young revolutionary, Farhad—slightly unsure of himself, and against his better judgement learning just enough about Warhol (that he had been shot, for example) to see him as human, and more than just collateral for the revolution.

For a 2013 story on Public Radio’s The World, Colacello told Shirin Jaafari that the media had been critical of the trip at the time. “The Village Voice newspaper ran a front page photograph of Andy in front of her portrait and the headline was, ‘The Beautiful Butcher,’ and the opening sentence was ‘Torture tastes better with caviar,'” he said. The idea, of course, was that Warhol had sold out and would do anything for money. And of course that idea is ever present in the play: that Warhol was in it for the money. But in 2025, those portraits–whether of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Mao Zedong or Farah Diba Pahlavi–are among his most iconic works.

This play is a case wherein fiction helps with understanding history, and enriches understanding of the twentieth century’s most famous and influential artist’s life. If you’re interested in art, or Andy Warhol specifically, it’s not to be missed. If you’ve lived through these events, but didn’t know about them, you’ll probably find yourself trying to figure out all the points at which fact and fiction diverge. If you are just looking for an engaging night out, you could do a lot worse.

Andy Warhol in Iran
Play by Brent Askari
Directed by Sarah May
October 3 – November 2, 2025
Beck Center for the Arts
17801 Detroit Avenue
Lakewood, Ohio 44107
216.521.2540
Beckcenter.org