This article argues that some of the adaptations performed in the most popular Iranian sitcom, Kolāh Ghermezī, are Shakespearean tragedies: Othello (1603), Romeo and Juliet (1591-1595),Hamlet (1599-1602)and Pericles (1607/1608). It examines the director’s recontextualization of Shakespeare. The director changes the plot, adds moral lessons and silences the violence, as do adapters of Shakespeare’s dramas for children. Pastiche and the dialogical tradition of the carnivalesque where animals play the role of human and men become women are also present. The choice of puppets who play Shakespearian characters is highly related to their public persona as being introduced cunning, helpful, or simple minded. The results, coming from carefully scrutinizing the performances by the help of adaptation methodologies, can be of significance to those interested in the adaptation of Shakespeare in a different setting with diverse audience.

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