Iranian residences on a stage over a pool of water that is often found in home courtyards. Siah-bazi is performed in more public places like theaters or coffee houses because of the political subject matter. The Iranian Revolution affected the tone and performance of Siah-bazi, and they edited away the sexual references, dancing and music. The performances continue only because of the acceptance of the standards of the Islamic Iranian Revolution. Pardeh dari, and pardeh khani Pardeh dari was introduced around the Qajar-era, and is a screen-based storytelling act with painted images held by the performer as a narrative tool. Similarly, pardeh khani is visual storytelling read off a screen on a wall, often a wall in a coffee house. It is often found in connection to Ta'zieh theatre acts. It required a lot of expense and preparation, therefore was more commonly seen in towns. The storyteller is called a pardeh khan, and in the process of performing they would use a pointer to visually emphasize the story. The imagery found in these types of performances can be separated into three categories, epic paintings (stories such as Shahnameh, the Death of Siyâvash, Rostam and Sohrab, among others), romantic paintings, and religious paintings. Contemporary Iranian theatre The contemporary theatre seen today in Iran is largely derived from Western traditions of performance that developed during the twentieth century. The most influential among these are modernism, Theatre of the Absurd, the poor theater, and postmodernism. While contemporary Iranian theatre builds off these movements, modern theatre artists have created a unique, culturally-specific style of theatre that blends Western styles with traditional modes of Persian performance. At the start of the twentieth century, Iran's relationship with industrial nations fundamentally changed. With the global demand for fossil fuels growing rapidly, the 1909 discovery of oil in Abadan, Iran, made the nation's relationship with the West (particularly the United Kingdom, United States, and France) heightened to a state of mutual reliance. These foreign nations developed close alliances with the Iranian monarchies, and cultural exchange flourished between Iran and Europe. Persian translations of plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, and Chekhov, etc were the first taste of a Western theatrical aesthetic for much of the Iranian public, and this style of playwriting was very influential on Iran's earliest native playwrights. Some of the prominent translators of theaterical works in Iran are Mirza Fatali Akhundzade, Dariush Mo'addabian, Ahmad Kamyabi Mask, Reza