Ayub Aghakhani: We need to modernize the literature of the Shahnameh / technical weakness is the most important reason for the failure of ancient works

Fars News Agency – Theater Group: For many years, various performances have been performed on the theater stages of the country with non-Iranian texts. It is possible to examine the position of these works in contrast to the works of an Iranian author, which wrongly causes the works of non-Iranian texts to gain more value.

One of the notable cases in this regard is the texts that are known as classical works, and of course their performance also requires high skill in performance, perhaps performing a text by Shakespeare or another European or American classic writer is a good resume for The director of that work should be considered.

But in this regard, the neglected point is the very luxurious and of course full of classical content and of course authentic Iranian works. Our own texts are not used.

* Samples that did not succeed

It should be said that this work was done several times in the theater and cinema for children and teenagers to be the entry way for authentic Iranian stories to modern art, the animation “The Last Story” by Ashkan Rahgozar was one of these creations that was included in the preliminary list of 32 animation films of the Academy of Sciences and Cinematic Arts (Oscar) was also introduced.

“The Last Story” was a free interpretation of the story of Dahhak Mardosh in Shahnameh, by Abolqasem Ferdowsi, but in the teaser of this film, not much loyalty to Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh is visible even in the heads and shapes of the characters, and the story is an adaptation. was not very faithful to the original text.

The use of the Shahnameh in various works has even gone beyond the borders of Iran, and for example, there are 4 Russian films with this theme, four films “Parcham Kaveh”, “Legend of Rostam”, “Rostam and Sohrab” and “Legend of Siavash” by They were made by Boris Kimiagrof in the Tajik Film Studio in the 60s and 70s.

Despite the propaganda of the Russians, Kimiagrove’s films may not have much cinematic value. These films, which have been screened many times in Iran in the past years, mostly remain glamorous works with a lot of darkness.

Kimiagrof spent three and a half million dollars only for the story of Rostam and Sohrab, which, of course, was borne by the former Soviet government. In his films, Ferdowsi’s text is sometimes treated with tolerance and indifference, and the typesetting and characterization are not very appropriate. For example, instead of being the Shahnameh Zabli warrior, Rostam has a combination of western cowboys and wild Tatars.

Regarding the purpose of adapting the Shahnameh and what message it pursues in its poems in the direction of contemporary perspectives, Kimiagrov says: “During the making of my films, I am constantly asked this question. I always feel that the whole world is gathered in Rostam’s name, Rostam is the jewel of Shahnameh. He is the symbol of the Shahnameh and is considered a myth and guardian of values ​​for the people. Rostam is a humanist and intellectual, and on the surface, he is a legendary brave. Siavash, the hero of my latest film, tries to apply Rostam’s ideas in real life. He always takes the side of goodness and justice and dreams of building a young city; The city of the sun, where people live in happiness and understanding and reveal their minds and souls in the best way.”

But the important thing, regardless of these issues, was the lack of success of Iranian animation and Russian films as two examples at the box office and attracting audiences, something that has happened many times in other mediums and has turned the failure of these works into a routine.

Now the same thing has happened and Hossein Parsai, who himself has a long history of performing texts of non-Iranian origin, has staged a play adapted from the Shahnameh.

The musical show “Heft Khan Esfandiar” is the latest attempt to adapt the Shahnameh of Hakim Abulqasem Ferdowsi, which is scheduled to be performed in May under the direction of Hossein Parsaei at Vahdat Hall. This story is the story of Esfandiar’s adventurous journey to free his sisters Homay and Afrid from the clutches of Turanian. This work is a product of Oj Media Art Organization and has been performing on the stage of Vahdat Hall since May 1402 in cooperation with Rudaki Art Cultural Foundation.

In this regard, we had a conversation with Ayub Aghakhani, an actor, director and theater writer who is also one of the good dramaturgs of Iranian theater, to examine the dimensions of this incident.

In the following, you will read the details of this conversation.

Fars: Mr. Aghakhani, as an activist in the field of theater, how empty do you feel of making plays with the content of old stories?

I am not only a theater person who has been active in it for three decades; Rather, as a person who wrote my master’s thesis with these concerns based on the story of Rostam and Sohrab, a dramatic literature trend called “Moon and Moon”, Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh in 470 half-hour episodes for compatriots outside Iran through Saadi Ashna radio. Of course, we don’t have this network these days, I have reread and narrated; Obviously, I believe that more consideration should be given to such works. Let’s not forget that Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh is one of the 5 basic pillars of dramatic literature in the world, and this is not a rank given to it in Iran or within the country, but it is a global rank and it is spoken of as a literary gem in the world. As a result, dealing with stories like Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh is a necessity. Unfortunately, we have not addressed it as we should.

Fars: In your opinion, what is the reason for this weakness and not paying attention to these stories?

The most important reason is technical weakness. This weakness exists both in terms of writing the play, in terms of production, and in terms of production. In other words, this type of reading works, that is, the type that has had a history so far; It has not been well liked by the audience. Because most of the works that the creators and artists have made based on Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh and these works have been staged, have been in a form where the characters of the show have spoken Ferdowsi’s poems in the form of dialogue, and there has been no change in the essence of the poem, which in this style has no There is no adaptation freshness.

It is possible that the show “Heft Khan Esfandiar” will have the same feature and again, the characters will read Hakim Ferdowsi’s poems instead of the dialogues taken from the original poems, which in my opinion, this method of adaptation will not be attractive to the audience.

Fars: Today there is a play centered on Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, what do you think should be done to make the play innovative and attractive?

In the “Heft Khan Esfandiar” show, you can use a trick that does not suffer from this weakness. One of these tricks is using musical instruments and making the show musical. I still believe that such a character and method in adaptation, which is to read poetry from the actors’ tongues, is very sloppy, clichéd, and contrary to the global trend. But in the work that claims to be a show-music.

In other words, even these dialogues are supposed to be sung; It is obvious that Ferdowsi’s poems should be used, and it is better to turn them into prose and re-enter the singing process. In any case, what has caused the audience’s weakness or lack of acceptance is this type of clichéd and stilted treatment, which perhaps the use of dramatic processes such as music-drama can soften a work like “Heft Khan Esfandiar”.

Of course, the external smell and color of the performance of “Seven Khan Esfandriyar” seems pleasing to the ears and eyes, which can become an attractive work for the audience because it is placed next to the axis of the Shahnameh itself. An audience that is looking for such attractions. Unfortunately, in the cinema and theater, due to the kind of treatment that is not very popular with the audience, we have never seen any success or reception of these works, nor has there been an incentive to continue them. My heart’s desire is that “Heft Khan Esfandiar”, along with similar projects, can once again revive this motivation for Iranian audiences to want to see versions of these works on the stage or on the screen. Naturally, these motivations will give the owners of capital, the owners of art, and those who have a pen in their hands an incentive to refer to works such as Farudsi’s Shahnameh as a source and reference, and the furnace of this fire will heat up.

Fars: The three elements of production, the audience and the owners of capital are the pillars of the production of a show. In order to be able to persuade all three groups to go to the old stories and works of the past, what mechanism should be considered?

What my personal experience in “Moon and Meh”, which was a play by Rostam and Sohrab in 470 episodes, showed that for the audience, the narrative line is more important than the original narrative structure of a poet like Hakim Ferdowsi. In other words, the author’s special point of view and consideration should be seen in the work, which part of the work is approached and why?

This makes the play a mere narrative and the audience is aware that what they see is a different narrative. This style of narration makes it possible to clearly see the way of signing and the way of psychological treatment of a character, which is weak in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. For example, if you approach Rostam, a set of actions and activities of Rostam will be drawn; But it is possible to include many psychological and hypothetical complexities of the new author and the adaptor, which includes contemporary psychological complexities, in the narrative of the Shahnameh. Here the approach to Rostam will be more interesting.

As a man, it is true that he has physical abilities beyond that of a human; But it is possible to make him close to a hero who can be understood concretely in the 21st century and in Iran. When such an angle is included in the narration of the story, the audience will automatically be attracted to it and it will be more pleasant for them. Another approach that needs to be taken into account is that it should not abandon the narrative, story and “one was one was not” and get involved in the literature of the main author of the work, Hakim Abolqasem Ferdowsi. One should try to convey the story’s soul to the audience; Even if the literature is easier.

Fars: This is a method that has been used in world cinema and many times they have brought new interpretations of classical literature to the screen. Doesn’t such a thing face resistance in our country?

If it is possible, when something is right, why shouldn’t it be done? If Westerners want to see the adaptation of an important work on the cinema screen, they do not necessarily faithfully put the original work word for word in the narrative.

By the way, they promote it with the ease of speech that automatically confirms that this work is taken from a relatively old work. These approaches are the same considerations that we do not make in our country for the construction of ancient works. Ferdowsi’s poems have become difficult for many people due to the deep and original Persian words, some of which are separated from the scope of today’s audience and need to refer to various sources.

This is where it can be encountered in three ways; Either he preserved this literature or at least returned it from order to prose, or he abandoned that literature and gave a little old color to the new literature and allowed the characters to start talking and talking in prose.

It is at this time that it becomes easier for the audience to receive the narratives, especially the twists of the narrative, and the audience will be more connected with it. Accompanying the audience spontaneously works so that the director and playwright also have enough motivation to produce content, and the investor will also be inclined to invest in this direction when they see the reception of the audience and the producer. All these things are connected to each other like a rosary thread. If the first steps are taken correctly, the other steps will follow the path correctly.

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