Theater needs compassionate directors

Theater News Base: Many followers of the performing arts know Behrouz Gharibpour as the founder of Bahman Cultural Center. We talked to Behrouz Gharibpour about the current situation of theater and the future of performing arts in Iran.

We have been witnessing the opening of private theaters for several years, but these theaters are not very efficient and will be closed after a while. As someone who has been involved in the construction and founding of theater buildings for a long time, what do you think is the cause of the existing problems?
Ever since I was studying at the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, and seeing architecture students, I have realized that none of the professors in this field offer projects related to building design and theater hall structure to their students. For this reason, I personally collaborated with architecture students in two projects as a consultant for my second and third year students. That’s why most of our theaters today are wrong.
I have talked to the officials about this many times, but unfortunately to no avail. However, it must be said that we are now dealing with a phenomenon that is really wrong. This problem must be solved by our faculties of architecture and cultural directors; Because in any case, the existing problems affect the performance and quality of the shows. Therefore, the authorities must make efforts to correct these issues.
Which of the existing hall buildings in the country does not meet the required standards and which one can meet the needs of theater lovers?
Unfortunately, ignorance of the structure of theater buildings begins with the faculties of architecture. For example, the city theater building, which is known as one of the best theater buildings in our country, is wrong in terms of acoustics, backstage, access, stage decor and other things. In fact, when building this building, it is enough to have beautiful shells regardless of the needs. While the Sangalaj Theater building, formerly known as the 25 Shahrivar Hall, can still meet the needs of theater lovers with minimal standards.
Of course, it goes without saying that Vahdat and Ferdowsi Hall buildings are also among our extraordinarily good halls. Personally, in addition to the Ferdowsi Hall that I was present at, the Avini Hall of the Bahman Cultural Center was also one of my constructions, which was built according to standard standards, and I performed the plays “The Poor” and “Uncle’s Cottage”. This hall was transformed into another use during the period when Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf was the mayor of Tehran. I was also a consultant to the director of the Book Garden for a while, and I must say that without exception, all the halls in this collection are wrong; This means that the entire national budget has been thrown away there. I asked them, what is the use of a scene that is 2.5 meters deep? They said it was for children’s theater. This theater was not suitable for children at all; In fact, they underestimate children’s theater.
What features should a theater have that we call a standard and in this regard can continue to operate for years?
We have a kind of theater building called Black Box, the exact example of which was built in 1351 in the building of the Iran-US Association and was called Down Stage. Both Shahro Kheradmand and Dariush Farhang worked in this hall and staged plays. The black box is a minimalist building that can be placed anywhere; This means that it is easy to determine the position of the stage and the spectators in it, but if the support does not have a locker room and decor, it will not have the necessary standards. For example, Hafez Hall, which was built after Ferdowsi Hall, is an example of a hall that had serious problems. At that time, although I was not responsible for the construction of this hall, I spent a long time to make the officials realize that the structure of the building was wrong. The executive groups in this hall had many problems to change the decor and clothes. The actors also resorted to solutions that are embarrassing to repeat for a simple toilet. Fortunately, a solution to this problem has now been found, but really, why shouldn’t an architect think of such issues and come up with solutions for them?
Apart from the staging of theater in terms of hardware that we talked about, we also see this staging in the play section. Why do we now have a limited production of new work that is of good quality?
This is related to the form structure that overshadows this issue; We have to ask how many works do we bring on stage per year? How many performances does he have and what memories do he have of them? Unfortunately, none of this matters; Because we feed disposable products to the audience.
It is a loss to look at this issue from any side; In a play, there are at least 5 and at most 30 people on stage who are more or less experienced manpower and should be used for a theatrical future, but when the structure is used once, everyone may only be on once or twice a year. Go on stage. Of course, I do not mean money-making actors and those who have received the strange title of celebrities, and I am talking about the mass of theatrical people.
On the other hand, to stage a show, if we spend the least amount of money to design the decor, lighting, clothes, etc., when the structure is disposable, they all end up in the trash. These problems will continue if we do not consider the eternal law of the growth of theater, ie repertoire.
Explain more about the theater repertoire? How can such an event be implemented in Iranian theater?
The repertoire happens when, for example, a theater announces that I trust 5 directors and their works have to be staged every year. When 5 directors are announced, we have 5 groups that return to the production cycle 6 months and a year later when they produce a work. The repertoire is savior.
Given the history of literature in our Iran, why do we face so many problems in the field of dramatic texts and the use of foreign translated works is more common than Iranian plays?
Playwriting is difficult; The playwright has long struggled to write a text, but audiences can only watch his work on stage for a month; So the director goes to the translation due to the lack of box office income and the lack of hope for the survival of the work. Of course, the hassle and cost of translation is not small, but the director’s risk is reduced. The use of classical literature and texts that can convey the thoughts and ideas of a nation requires investment. We auctioned the theater during the wood era, as we saw private theaters staging a large number of plays that required only minimal movement of projectors and stage. In addition, they had a significant income due to the presence of restaurants and coffee shops in their area. As a result, theatrical aesthetics in these halls became obsolete. In fact, the theatrical thought of classical literature was no longer economically viable for those theaters. Today, we are in a situation where we have a valuable heritage and good manpower, including director, actor, make-up artist, costume designer and all the positive elements and people who love theater, but not compassionate management that thinks about the future. I do not mean the director general of the performing arts, because now this institution is not the only one in charge of the theater, I mean a comprehensiveness that includes institutions independent of the General Directorate of Performing Arts. This statement of mine should not hit anyone. We wrote theatrical style dozens of times and said, for example, that the best directors should go to the cities and work with groups and come to Tehran to perform, but all of these cases are buried.
Given what has been said, can we make an analysis of the future of Iranian theater?
Recently, I had a webinar entitled “A Century of Theater” in which I also mentioned the promising parts of our country’s theater; It is not uncommon for us, after a century of Western-style theater, to be able to present our theatrical productions at international festivals. These days, our theater has a name and an official name in the world, and when they say Iran, they refer to our theater, directors and writers. In some respects we have a very good legacy, but we need to see our bedrock with a more comprehensive, compassionate and forward-looking vision. For example, we see that the theater budget is getting weaker day by day, which shows a lack of compassion and less understanding of the theater.
Confucius said more than 3,000 years ago that if you want to change a country’s culture, change that country’s music. If a compassionate, thoughtful and managerial person is in charge and understands the meaning of this word, he can be told that if you destroy the theater, music, visual arts, etc. of a country, you have in fact destroyed its culture.