A manager’s wasted dreams

Theater News Base: It was on the eve of Eid that Shahram Karami resigned or may have been forced to resign. The troubles of the 38th Fajr Theater Festival, which were accompanied by the resignation of a large group of artists, undoubtedly caused him many troubles; It is as if in those days, when he accompanied us for a conversation, he spoke of the difficulties that had occurred. The discomfort and pressure of managerial difficulties could be seen in his behavior and face. Several plays commissioned by the festival with letters such as Atila Pesyani, Arash Dadgar and Afsaneh Mahian, with the presence of famous actors, were supposed to be a credit for Shahram Karami and Nader Borhani; But the cancellation of all three performances – which apparently received funding for their production – was cold water for the festival and the General Directorate of Performing Arts. The three plays, which could have been considered as bombshells for the audience and the crowds at the Fajr Festival, along with the works of Mohammad Masavat and Reza Baharvand, suddenly became a bedrock for future troubles.

Although that day Mehdi Shafiei was trying to cover Fajr in the Iranian newspaper; But it was too late.

The situation was even so bad that in one of the Fajr side programs, one of the activists of the Fajr Festival boycott was invited to give a speech and be praised for the text in which the ceremony was unveiled.

Fajr Theater Festival is the showcase of Iranian theater management and Fajr 38 was Achilles’ heel to continue attending. Perhaps if the plane had not been set on fire and the artist had not given up, Shahram Karami would still have been the director general of the Iranian performing arts; But the wind blows for the worm. Of course, from the writer Shahram Karami’s point of view, his resignation led to his salvation.

Continuing to go to the theater with a host of financial problems was nothing but tarnishing his image, and perhaps he himself was aware of this. Like the smart football coaches, he has voluntarily retired so that he might appear as the secretary of the Fajr Festival in the era of “post-conflict two”, when perhaps good money will once again enter the cultural cycle.

But Karami’s departure raised a big question mark: who will be the director of the General Directorate of Performing Arts? Choosing the familiar might was a strange choice. He was the last director of the miracle era of the third millennium and was basically in the House of Conservatives, and there was no place for him to appear in Hassan Rouhani’s government. Therefore, immediately after the end of the Fajr Festival in 1392, the red button was removed to remove him from the theater for the next six years; But his return to Shahriyar Street may have been a defeat for the political vision of the government of the time, and the winner was none other than Qader Ashna.

He came after Fajr, just as he left after Fajr; But one event destroyed all of Ghader Ashna’s pleasure: Corona. Corona was a fatal blow to the lovable face of the able-bodied. The bad situation of 1398, by merging with Qader Ashna, a friend familiar with the government apparatus, had created a spark of hope in the hearts of theater artists. The first example was the help of the Foundation for the Underprivileged to the General Directorate of Performing Arts to pay off some debts and help artists during the Corona.

Qader Ashna’s upstream consultations, which could not be missed by Shahram Karami, created the feeling that Ashna is one of the superheroes of the comic world who has come to the aid of theater artists with a common appearance among the country’s directors. He even announced his determination to renovate the Iranian theater by publishing an eleven-point instruction. Everything indicated that he was staying. With the advent of a principled government in 1400, it could even be said with certainty that Qader Ashna would remain in office and even become the artistic deputy director. Everything was ready for the acquaintance; But what happened was that Ashna could not protect her political position. Of course, the primary and common factor is his retirement; But who does not know that despite being a veteran, he was able to extend his management. So the story is something else.

“Kazem Nazari replaced Qader Ashna in the Performing Arts Department of the Ministry of Guidance.” This is a headline that has been published less than 24 times. This is not news for media people. For the past three months, Kazem Nazari has been waiting to sit in a position he has not experienced. He had never held a managerial position in the theater. Most of his work has been in the field of education and he has been on the stage from time to time; But why should he endure the theory of a quarter of a period of stagnation in order to start his management as a familiar in the days of Nowruz?

The answer is clear: Fajr Theater Festival. Governments do not bear the brunt of the negative burden of the behavior of previous governments – you read the rival government. The 40th Fajr Theater Festival, with all its exaggerations in the words of its trustees, was the product of Hassan Rouhani’s government, and no doubt the government of Ibrahim Ra’isi did not accept any unfortunate event in it. Every mistake in Fajr and even other side festivals of the General Directorate of Performing Arts should have been written in the record of the directors of the twelfth government. The policy of these festivals was written in those days and of course it was the product of a kind of managerial genius.

While everyone knew that there was no news about the government team of Tadbir and Omid in the future government, Qader Ashna appointed Hossein Mosafarastaneh as the festival secretary immediately after the closing of the 39th Fajr Theater Festival. This action was equivalent to his survival until Eid 1401 in the position of theater director. Although Ashna had said in his eleventh class instruction that he would integrate side festivals; But he hurriedly held the Hamedan Children’s Festival in the fifth peak of Corona. He did not miss the few chances of survival, and that was not what the current government liked. The lack of proper accompaniment from the Fajr Theater Festival is a good proof of this situation. Unlike the Fajr Film Festival, where everything was subject to the 13th government, the Fajr Theater Festival had nothing to do with the new government. Part of the license for the plays in Fajr also belonged to the previous government. Some of the protected works also came from the previous government.

The last playing field for Qader Ashna did not go as well as he thought. The presence of figures such as Houshang Tavakoli in the policy-making body was supposed to be a link to help government agencies; But the plan did not go as planned. The election of Kazem Nazari was a sign that the new government would no longer happen to Qader Ashna. The arrival of Mahmoud Salari as the artistic deputy had a clear message.

The new government is willing to use figures with no managerial background; But it has nothing to do with the men of previous governments. That is why Kazem Nazari is a good choice by the 13th government; But can Kazem Nazari, whose name came out of the basket of the 13th government after the Fajr Theater Festival, be able to launch a shipwreck?

This question is very difficult to answer; But the world that Kazem Nazari has set up has the same characteristics that swallowed Shahram Karami and Ghader Ashna and blew their dreams.