It’s August in Tehran, And the heat beats the restless streets Into rolling relentless chaos. The first American coup attempt has failed.

This is the story of the 1953 CIA led coup in Iran, a major cause of the so-called war on terror, when fledging Iranian democracy was strangled at birth in favour of British oil interests and US cold war strategy. Intimate in its design and execution, but epic in reach, it tells one of the most remarkable yet little known stories of the last century, tackling issues of conscience, empire, freedom, and power.

This is a story everyone should know, whose timeless echoes thunder in our ears, demanding to be heard. Wildbird are a new contemporary performance and multi arts company from Moray in the north east of Scotland. The artistic team was originally brought together to work on National Theatre of Scotland’s Crucible and Macbeth projects and formed Wildbird in 2006. Fall of the Peacock Throne is their second full length theatre production.