“Colonel”, a national idealist on the stage of Vahdat Hall
Fars News Agency – Theater Group: Throughout history, various personalities have sacrificed their lives for the upliftment of the country and people’s awareness. If they weren’t there, maybe the events of our contemporary history would have been on a different path.
If they kill me, my drops of blood will draw the word “Iran” and if they burn me, my ashes will form the name of the country.
Mohammad Taghi Pesian is one of these characters. Patriot and people. Pasian is known as the first Iranian pilot who lost his life to prevent chaos and want justice. These days, the Colonel’s show, which is performed in the Vahdat Hall, reviews the life and times of this freedom-loving young man, who endured a lot of bitterness in one of the most sensitive historical moments for the upliftment of his country.
A tulip has been blown from the blood of the youth of the homeland…
“The Colonel” starts at 18:05. Writings appear on the screen behind the colonel’s head, which is not very legible from the angle where I am sitting! But I read “Hamadan-Tepe Mosli” clearly.
The play begins with the colonel’s monologue. The famous story of Hamedan war is between Gendarmerie and Kazakh forces. One of the parts of contemporary history that has been very little discussed in these years. After that, Mohammad Motamedi enters the stage and takes the position of the colonel. It is sung from the blood of the youth of the homeland, and Motamadi sings it so sweetly.
Colonel starts from Hamadan and takes us to Berlin, Tehran and Mashhad and we get to know the story of a young man who is concerned about his country at every moment of his life. As far as his love goes:
Colonel: In the times of unhappiness in my country, it is a false happiness that I do not believe!
And in another place in Mashhad, he says to the teacher: I have a greater attachment called Watane…!
Mohammad Naqaei as a writer creates a drama that we can get to know about the internal conditions of the colonel in addition to the time of Mohammad Taghi. Like the place where he sees Ezzat Khanum in a dream and honestly talks about her condition, which is one of the most attractive frames of the Colonel’s show, and Kazem Siyahi’s performance in it is spectacular.
In my opinion, Kazem Sayahi’s game has appeared a little higher and better than expected with the backgrounds I had from him.
In addition to this, Naghaei tries to read reports from the language of different characters in different places of the show, an insistence that the audience must accept. The reports that are very appropriate and pleasant in moments such as the presence of Major Bahadur with the role of Atabek Naderi, and in other moments it could be omitted, as if the director was willing to use these reports in any way!
But one of the important and essential escapes of the Colonel’s play is when Moatasim al-Satneh, played by Ali Atai, offers Pesian the independence of Khorasan. Naga’i very cleverly frees the hero of the story from this historical stigma. A careful study of the historical sources shows that Pesian was never on the way to the independence of Greater Khorasan, and this is shown in a short act in this play.
The mixing of a love story in the main narrative of this show has made it more pleasant for the audience. A romantic story whose weakness is its predictability. Maybe the romantic scenes were created so that Mohammad Motamedi had more excuses to come on stage.
Colonel: If someone is safe at the end of this ordeal, write “Watan” on my shroud with my blood and send it to my mother…
From here, there are many scenes for the colonel’s nationalist characterization, maybe you won’t get anything more important than the homeland in all the moments of the show.
The last show I saw by Amir Bashiri was in 1997 at Shahr Theater. The show “Blood Garden”, a work with a historical theme, which also referred to one of the events of the country’s contemporary history, and this can be a sign of the director’s interest in historical issues. At a time when most directors go for apartment works for various reasons, it takes courage to choose such a text!
According to the beginning of the show, the task of the audience is determined by the music part that is used a lot in the advertisements of the work. Mohammad Motamedi, a well-known singer of our country, is going to sing some ballads in the show.
I think “Colonel” is a perfect show even without music, but the presence of a singer like Motamadi has made it more popular.
The production team tries and insists a lot to show us the story of the show, which is intertwined with many acts, in the most concise and simple way possible. I refer you to saying goodbye to Irene in Berlin and saying goodbye to the teacher in Mashhad. Two characters who have formed a romantic relationship between them and the colonel and show brilliant moments of Nazanin Bayati and Kazem Siyahi’s acting.
In my opinion, this is a suitable method and design for this medium and the representation of a historical work, so that the audience can easily follow the path of the story. In this regard, I would like to refer you to the Qawam al-Sultaneh Detention Act.
One of the interesting episodes of the Colonel’s show starring Siamak Safari and Kazem Siyahi. Kagardan cleverly shows this very important act with only one chair and a light on the end wall of the stage, which is the blades of a fan. And all this has become one of the important and leading parts of the “Colonel” story!
This simplicity has not made it pass some frames easily. The presence of horses with strange shapes, the dream of Ezzat Khanom, the presence of Prideaux in the gendarmerie, the ending, etc. are among the parts that create inner excitement for the audience. For his other acts, the director has also used videos that are printed on the set, live music, etc. at the end of the scene. The timing of the performance of the ballads is placed in the right place of the work according to the time of the show.
One of the most interesting parts of The Colonel’s show is its ending. Short and glorious moments!
In the end, Bashiri has spent most of his energy to bring the audience closer to the hero of his story, an effort that seems to have paid off. After the performance, we will meet an audience that has good knowledge about “Colonel Mohammad Taghi Khan Pesian”.
The first Iranian pilot, who is very patriotic and people-oriented, knows music, translation, mathematics, etc., and he lost his life on the way to his ideal, which is a prosperous homeland and peace of the people.
In the direction of the colonel, the stage design has shown itself well. The timing of the use of decor doors in the act of the presence of the criteria, the disturbed man who comes on the stage with a small carpet and the entrance of Aref Qazvini from another door of the stage. This shows that Bashiri and Mehdizadeh have been in great harmony with each other.
Colonel: My honor will not allow a part of Iran to be separated…
The Colonel has twelve actors who play multiple roles. Before seeing the show, it was very difficult for me to imagine Kazem Siyahi as Colonel Mohammad Taqi Khan Pesian. But Sayahi coped well with this role, he did not suffer from the usual stereotypes in playing such roles, nor did he go through it naively. The audience understands the colonel very well in different moments, and this is indicative of the nobility of Kazem Siyahi on the role.
Siyahi performs one of his memorable roles these nights in Vahdat Hall. Siyahi’s acting moments opposite Nazanin Bayati are among the most attractive parts of this show and carry the emotional burden of the performance.
The presence of Siamak Safari, one of the famous actors of the country’s theater, and Rahim Nowrozi on the stage is brilliant and reminds of the good days of the theater.
Although other actors are not on stage for long moments, they have an impressive presence. Like the monologue of the serfs, one of which is in Khorasani accent, the colonel’s argument in an episode to reclaim the property of Astan Motbarakeh, and… the appearance of Mohammad Motamedi as an actor in the role of Arif has created pleasant moments.
Bashiri has a dynamic and experienced acting team and this is one of the great advantages of “Colonel”.
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