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Comic Theater in Demand
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A scene from ÔHassan and the Demon of the Narrow Road Behind the MountainÕ, directed by Afshin Hashemi
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Growing public interest in comedy performances currently on stage at City Theater Complex indicates the need for further works in this genre.
According to MNA, the plays ’Hassan and the Demon of the Narrow Road Behind the Mountain’, directed by Afshin Hashemi and ’The Cantankerous Men’ by Hamid Pourazari, are on stage at the complex’s Qashqaei and Sayeh halls, respectively.
The two performances with comic overtones have been quite successful in attracting a large number of audiences so far.
Hashemi’s play, which drew an audience of 2,613 to the complex during its 18 performances, features a variety of Iranian performing styles, including traditional puppet performance as well as indigenous music.
’The Cantankerous Men’, written by Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni is centered on followers of old customs who oppose contemporary trends and developments.
The play belongs to a form of improvisational theater ’Commedia dell’Arte’.
Commedia dell’Arte which held its popularity through the 18th century in Italy is similar to Iranian ’Takhteh Howzi’, which is held in an open area usually with unscripted performances and few props.
Perhaps attracting the general public, currently happening at private theaters such as Golriz and Martyr Chamran Complex, is a matter of great concern to the theater officials. But, it should be remembered that making the people laugh should not be done at any how and should happen based on an appropriate theatrical framework.
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55 Cultural Centers
Commemorate Molla Nasreddin
The eighth birth centennial of the famous satirical figure Molla Nasreddin was commemorated in London on Friday at a gathering of representatives from 55 cultural centers across the world.
According to MNA, the event, attended by several literary figures, was organized by Turkey’s Aksehir Cultural Center.
The five-day event, which runs until Tuesday (May 13), includes a number of programs such as narration of Molla Nasreddin satires, a caricature exhibit and story reading by British students.
A bilingual Turkish-English collection of satires by Molla Nasreddin will be also distributed among the students.
Molla Nasreddin was a satirical figure who lived around the 13th century, somewhere in former Khorasan, which was ruled at the time by the Seljuq dynasty. Many nations of the Near Middle East and Central Asia including Afghans, Iranians, Turks, and Uzbeks claim Nasreddin as their own.
Nasreddin was a witty philosopher and sage, remembered for his funny stories and anecdotes. Much of Nasreddin’s actions can be described as illogical yet logical, rational yet irrational, bizarre yet normal, foolish yet sharp, and simple yet profound. What adds even further to his uniqueness is the way he gets across his messages in unconventional yet very effective methods, and profound simplicity.
Molla Nasreddin is also popular among the Russians. A bronze statue of the satirical figure along with his donkey is installed near a metro station in western Moscow.
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picture
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Visitors at a painting exhibition, featuring works by the disabled artist Hossein Nouri,
in TehranÕs Shahed
Gallery. Nouri has
so far held
several exhibitions
in Iran, France and China. (Photo by
Ali Hassanpour)
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Imam Ali (AS):
Grant of patience (from Allah) is in proportion to the extent of calamity you are passing through. If you exhibit fretfulness, irritation and despair in calamities, then your patience and exertions will be wasted.
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British College to Install Ferdowsi Statue
A statue of renowned Iranian poet Abolqasem Ferdowsi will be installed at Wadham College library of Oxford University in the near future.
In a meeting with Sir Neil Chalmers, the dean of Wadham College on Friday, Iran’s cultural attachŽ in London, Ali-Mohammad Helmi proposed the idea of putting up Ferdowsi’s statue at Wadham College, IRNA reported.
They also discussed cooperation, organizing art and cultural workshops and poetry nights at Oxford University as well as conducting refresher courses in Persian language and literature.
Sir Chalmers also expressed pleasure over the expansion of art and cultural ties with universities of Iran and warmly received the idea of installing Ferdowsi’s statue at the college.
Helmi stated that changes in Iranian culture following the 1979 Islamic Revolution have impressed both the regional countries and the world. He urged Western experts to pay due attention to these cultural changes in Iran.
Iranian Girl Shines At Japanese Event
A nine-year-old Iranian girl Kimia Abbasi won the silver medal at an art contest in Japan organized by Ie-No-Hikari Association.
Abbasi, who is a member of the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA), took part in the contest with a painting of a rural Iranian family working on a farm, said IIDCYA’s Public Relations Department in a fax to Iran Daily.
Over 5,000 works from 67 countries competed in the event.
Bokhara to Review DŸrrenmatt Works
Bokhara monthly magazine is planning to review works by Swiss dramatist and novelist Friedrich DŸrrenmatt (1921Ð90) in its next program on May 13.
Swiss ambassador in Tehran, Philippe Welti and literati Ali Dehbashi, noted stage director Hamid Samandarian, and Ezzatollah Fouladvand will speak at the ceremony.
Samandarian and Fouladvand have undertaken great efforts for introducing DŸrrenmatt works in Iran, ISNA reported.
Samandarian staged one of DŸrrenmatt’s dramas ’The Visit’ at Tehran’s City Theater Complex in January.
The play was the 2007 top performance of the year.
Bokhara’s programs are scheduled to be held at Naqsh-e Jahan Art Research Center located on Vali-e Asr St., near Saei Park.
Nobel Prize “A Disaster“
British author Doris Lessing has said that winning the Nobel Prize for Literature was a ’bloody disaster’, adding she has now stopped writing.
Lessing, whose works include ’The Golden Notebook’ and ’The Good Terrorist’, told BBC that she spends most of her time now being photographed and giving interviews.
The 88-year-old was awarded the Nobel in 2007 and at the time said it was ’astonishing and amazing’ to receive the honor. Asked about her writing on BBC radio, she said, “It has stopped, I don’t have any energy any more.“
“This is why I keep telling anyone younger than me, ’don’t imagine you’ll have it forever.’ Use it while you’ve got it because it’ll go, it’s sliding away like water down a plughole,“ she said.
Lessing added that she had been in constant demand since her Nobel award.
“All I do is give interviews and spend time being photographed,“ she said. The author was born in Iran’s Kermanshah province but her British family moved to what was then Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, when she was young. Lessing moved to London when she was 30.
Her most recent novel is ’Alfred and Emily’, which she says will be her last.
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