Penguins, seagulls and a few other birds »/ Why not become Woody Allen?

Theater News Base: We know Meysam Abdi more with serial plays such as “Inventions”, “Discoveries”, “Inhalations” and so on. His collaboration with Omid Taheri as a writer was a kind of critical humor with a historical background. He once staged Max Frisch’s play “Andorra” at the Rain Theater in order to somehow deviate from his previous structure. In recent years, however, Abdi has been less active, appearing more as a radio man.

“Penguin …” was supposed to be a new chapter for this comedy director, where it’s as if he is about to mature a comedian. By distancing himself from Farce plays, he intended to create a style similar to that of Woody Allen. The style is close to Burlesque and its place of attraction is in parody. Of course, works such as “Discoveries” also involved parody; But this time things were going to get more serious.

The constant reference to Chekhov’s play “Seagull” and the use of the play technique in the play and of course the representation of his personal beliefs or the very emphasis of the main character of the play on Woody Allen and of course the re-creation of “Play this song again” all go back to Abdi’s parody. . Like Allen, he wants to be at the center of the play and say that the hero of his work is himself.

In the show, of course, he is not in the center of the game in the manner of Woody Allen. In the margins, Barry himself finds a place like Rick’s “Play This Song Again” to portray his open-minded fantasy hero in engagement with women; But the main character’s temperament bears no resemblance to Woody Allen, disturbed by his relationship with new women. Allen who wants to express his love and can not; She confronts a man who basically suppresses love for women and emotional relationships with a kind of omnipotent pride. Although in the end he gets involved in killing his dreams; But we are not dealing with Woody Allen here.

There are many Iranian artists trying to achieve a world similar to Woody Allen. Woody Allen is essentially a pure figure for some kind of artistic intellectual. His personal view of the universe and the combination of sociology and psychology to achieve a kind of humor and, of course, intellectual manipulation and content is something that can fascinate writers. Even Woody Allen’s image can convince the artist of narcissism. Allen is constantly exposing himself and mixing his personal life with a story that he is going to reveal on stage or on stage. The Iranian artist’s break with Allen also takes place at this point. He does not reveal himself as Allen.

It was not difficult for Abdi’s friends to see his picture in the center of the play; But this discovery of Abdi’s face in the form of a dreamy man is due to life and closeness; Not the revelation of the central character. In Woody Allen’s works, the character speaks of his situation in camera-like monologues, and even in “Love and Death,” it is imbued with extreme humor. Allen always talks about his failed marriages or points to his Jewish roots, talks about his problems at school, and widens his relationship with his parents; But in “Penguin …” such a thing is not obvious. Even the context of the event formed in the play can not expose the author of the work. In “Play This Song Again”, Woody Allen is at the height of his relationship with Diane Keaton, and it can be seen that his conflict with the world of “Casablanca” is the product of tensions that may have been sparked in the lives of the two artists. Remember, at the time of the film’s release, Keaton and Allen were separated.

Let’s go back to “Penguin …”, where Meysam Abdi tries to express his dreamlike world and the troubles that this dream has provided for him. The product of his work is a narrative that is repeated three times and in each repetition, the direction of the story changes. As an author, he is supposed to show what mentality he is capable of and can use his dreams and imagination even in mental distress. The nested world of narratives and movements of imaginary and real characters is going to turn into a dramatic madness. From time to time, this madness also delights the audience; But it is not possible to reach that aspect of Woody Allen.

This is a matter of worldview. Where Allen appears as a philosopher and presents a manifesto. A very good example of this can be found in films such as “Aphrodite the Mighty”, “Crime and Misdemeanor” and “Harry’s Decomposition”. As a skeptical philosopher, Allen ridicules concepts such as religion, love, resurrection, and, of course, human relationships, and of course expresses his own ideas. Like the final sequence of “Harry Deconstruction” and that heterogeneous sum inside the car.

This does not happen in “Penguin …”. Meysam Abdi’s thoughts and ideas are scattered and incoherent. You are not confronted with any direct concept other than valuing the imagination. Even when there is talk of betrayal, betrayal remains on the ground. The sheer volume of talk, from Chekhov himself to the penguins’ love affairs, does not shed light on anything. Woody Allen in “Mighty Aphrodite” focuses on two myths: Aphrodite and Jocast. She lays the foundation for the role of the mother in the story of Oedipus, and her product is one of her strangest films. Everything Abdi is looking for is a film; But Allen is not busy. Abdi seems to be in a situation where he does not have the opportunity to express all his ideas and now he has to reveal everything on stage. This crowded situation also leads to distancing.

Authors like Allen generally have a realistic relationship with their geography or audience because they borrow content from their personal lives. Manhattan Woody Allen, for example, is the product of his life, and Allen characters, for all their contradictions, share Manhattan and reflect a particular social class; But in “Penguin …” this important thing is not touched.

The characters in the play have the least relationship with each other and do not represent the class and stratum close to the author. They need the drama that takes place on stage. Their relationship is faint and their omission does not disrupt the show. Now it is enough to remove the imaginary embodiment of Allen’s wife in “Play This Song Again Sam”, basically the story does not go on; Because Allen’s fear of his wife is active and determines the outcome at the end of the play.

It seems that Woody Allen’s authoritarianism in Iran needs a kind of calm, a kind of life and a kind of carelessness of the surrounding world and immersion in itself, it needs a kind of individualism that is not seen at least in Meysam Abdi. Unlike the Iranian artist, Woody Allen does not react emotionally to the immediate events around him, what matters is what is inside him. A kind of intellectual fragmentation that cannot be minimized in my Iranian life.