We advertised like 25 years ago!

Charso Press: Comedy friends, starring Behnam Tashkar, Sima Tirandaz, Sina Razani and Mahshid Aghakhani, is about a couple who, on the verge of separation, decide to buy a couple for friendship from a friendship store. They keep this purchased couple in the closet and ask them to entertain them in exchange for a little food and a place to sleep and live in the closet. The young couple is also happy that if they have nothing, at least they have a place to sleep, but things don’t stay like that…

We had a conversation with Babak Tausli, the director of this show, which you will read below:

How did you decide to perform your show in this situation?

I had not started work under these conditions. We started training about 3 months ago, everything was good. We thought we would have good reception and sales because we had a good team and text, but suddenly the situation changed. We also had no choice but to perform, because we had a contract with the hall and we had paid an amount and we had to perform.

How much has the lack of audience affected your work?

It must have hit. However, we have good Wednesdays and Thursdays and there are more spectators in the hall. On Tuesdays, almost half of the hall is filled, but the situation is not good on a Saturday and Monday.

What problems has the implementation caused in these conditions? I think the first is the lack of advertising.

Yes. It is not possible to advertise in cyber space. During this time, internet platforms and virtual networks were one of the main bases for promoting theaters, which are now closed. Instagram pages that used to advertise theaters, naturally no longer accept advertisements and a lot of problems have been created. We are moving forward with the conditions we used to advertise for shows 25 years ago. It means printing pamphlets and posters.

How about other than this?

Not being able to advertise means that we have few viewers and this issue apart from affecting the sales, caused the energy to not flow in the performance. Theater is an art that is created in the moment and is transferred face to face and breath to breath. This transfer of feeling and flow of energy does not happen in some nights due to the lack of spectators. Although the actors try not to let this happen, we usually have a stronger and heartier performance when the hall is full.

Tell me about the choice of text. What were your reasons for choosing this text?

I had given the hall another text to perform. A text called Shahneshin, which had a Qajar atmosphere. The Performing Arts Center found some errors in the text that, if it were to be fixed, the entire text and its structure would be messed up. That’s why we decided not to use that text. Salon himself suggested Dostan Comedy and I liked it a lot when I read it. Maybe it was better that we worked on this text.

We also see references to today’s issues in the implementation.

Yes. I tried to be faithful to the text and not to change the structure. But as much as possible, we added issues that are compatible with today’s conditions.

I must also say that my reading of this text is different from the perception of directors who have worked on the same text outside of Iran. I tried to work very minimally and formally, but I saw a performance of this text that was performed in France itself, which was completely realistic.

But your performance is completely minimal and only human relationships remain from realism, which is not very similar to reality. The scene is summarized in a table and chairs and mirrored closets where the audience can see themselves.

Both the audience can see themselves in it and the distortion that is created in it, as if it shows the monster inside people. This means that our true form may not be what it appears to be.

In the performance you saw from France, there was so much focus on the characters of a couple who are friends, what psychological problems do they have?

Not. The layers of the work were not very divided and the execution form was simple.

If it wasn’t for the next show that goes on right after your work, would it still be as short a scene?

If I had performed at Vahdat Hall, I would have had the same scene. Because our work is a formal work, so the scene should be just as formal. This was the common point between me and the stage designer, and I wanted to have a scene that is very simple and formal at the same time. You might put a frame and use it as a dresser and say my work was formal, but I wanted to keep the visual appeal of the work and keep it simple at the same time.

Do you have any plans to perform again?

I don’t think so. Unless the situation of the society is better and happier. We had many plans. We wanted to perform in some foreign countries, which are now 100% closed under these conditions. On the other hand, because the name of our work is called comedy friends, people think that they are going to see a comic work, and naturally, there is no mood to see a comedy work.

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