Today, theater is not considered a necessity in people’s livelihood basket
Razavi National Theater Festival Playwright said: Currently, theater and drama are not considered necessary in the basket of people’s livelihood and they are not given as much attention as other media.
Charso Press: Shadi Ghafurian said about the theme of the plays “Emergency Brake” and “Mirrors Facing”: The story of Emergency Brake is about a girls’ handball team that is going to Mashhad by train, and in the middle of the night, the captain of the team disappears for unknown reasons, and the team members are hard to find. They are faced with the decision of the captain and the reason for his absence, and his absence for the upcoming match will cause problems.
He added: Mirrors Facing You is also a social text with two-person scenes that follows the lives of several people in the geography of Mashhad. People whose lives intersect at some points and affect each other.
Regarding the effect of the Razavi Theater Festival on the growth and development of the country’s theater, Ghafourian said: I don’t know exactly how much direct impact the festivals can have on the country’s theater, because the festivals are held in the form of a competition and have a theme, one can focus on its development in proportion to the theme. He took a step in order to improve the quality of Razavi’s products.
He added: But in general, in the country’s theater, it is not possible to say how much the festivals can be effective and whether these effects are positive or if the atmosphere of the theater faces the damage of festivals. In general, if the other arrangements are done correctly and there are no problems in the theater such as the lack of halls in the cities or budget allocation problems, it can be said that holding such festivals can have a positive effect.
The author of the play “Emergency Brake” said about the impact of the art of playwriting in promoting Razavi’s culture: “Currently, the play is not considered essential in the livelihood of the common people, and it is not considered as much as other media. The necessities of life of the general public have been limited to meeting the basic needs of food, clothing, housing, etc., and theater is considered an unreachable and sometimes luxury commodity in this livelihood basket.
Theater can be a human builder only in the normal economic situation of the country
Ghafurian continued: Theater can definitely help and build people for the culture of a country, but this is if the economic situation of the people is more normal in such a way that people can watch at least one show a month financially and based on cultural concerns. When such conditions do not exist and the audience of the theater is very limited, it cannot be said to what extent the theater can influence the general society and not just a certain class.
Mashhad theater has declined according to today’s conditions
He said about the state of Mashhad theater with regard to the interruptions in the performances due to various reasons: due to the lack of theaters in Mashhad metropolis and in terms of the skyrocketing cost of producing a show and the uncertainty of the return of production capital and the possibility Earning money for the actors of a work, in my opinion, Mashhad theater has not only not returned to its previous conditions and prosperous days, but has also declined.