Where is the location of “Inflamed Temples”?/ A gloomy shadow of myself on the stage
Charso Press: Mohammadreza Sajjadian, the writer, actor and director of the show “Inflamed Temples” which is currently on stage at Tazami Theater, about his entry into the theater field. He said: In 1976, I entered the field of acting by being a member of the selected school theater group and participating in student festivals. But this process stopped after a few years due to the educational needs of that time, and after that I only followed the theater as an audience with old regrets. Until 1991, I decided to seriously return to the theater. From that year until now, I gained various experiences in the field of playwriting, acting and directing, and in the show “Inflamed Temples” I did all three activities together, which was really a difficult experience.
He said about this show, which is a monologue performance: To be honest, I am not particularly interested in monologues. I actually like the narration. That an attractive story is performed in front of the audience with any technique. That there is something to follow. In my opinion, in a dramatic text, important elements such as suspense, surprise and unraveling should be arranged correctly. However, through which method (single actor or multiple actors) this will be achieved depends on the capacities and execution methods of the story. “Inflamed Temples” is a one-act work, but in my opinion, only a part of it is performed as a monologue, and a significant part of it is the dialogues between the characters in the story.
Sajjadian said about the formation of this performance work: The idea of ”Inflamed Temples” began with the selection of its location. Ever since I was a child, in front of the bathroom mirror, I see a vast world in front of me. A world that includes observing the maturity of my face, smileys for no reason, imaginary conversations and reviewing everyday anger, tears and laughter. Therefore, I imagined what would happen if, on the assumption of example, there is an audience on the other side of the mirror who witnesses a narrative in the same small space of the bathroom with few practical facilities. This idea was gradually completed until the play “Inflamed Temples” was formed.
This actor and director continued: My main concern is the manifestation of human beings in literature. Now whether in the form of a poem or a play or a combination of them. As a playwright, it is very difficult to observe the border between the main dramatic components of the work and the arrangement of words in such a way that you do not suffer from clichés. Stereotype is a dangerous trap that the artist must carefully avoid.
Referring to his interest in participating in various theater fields, Sajjadian stated: I like theater as a verb. Wherever I can be useful for the performance, I attend because I deeply believe that theater is human-building and in the process of ideation to the performance of a show, there are many difficulties, sorrows and joys that are like a compact replica of life events in front of us. they take. The fact that I am the writer and director of this work was because while I was writing, many directing ideas were formed in my mind that I felt bound to be loyal to those ideas and I could not dictate those ideas to another director. I must also say about acting, because I was not sure about the implementation of this work in the current situation, I preferred not to take my friends’ time for a work that I am not sure of the time and place of its implementation, and I did the work myself, relying on my own exercises and etudes and relative abilities. I advanced
He emphasized: In the end, as a representative of many theater artists of my generation, I must say that working in theater now and in the current conditions is pure madness. There is no economic justification for staging a work even with minimum quality and agents. What if someone like me wants to pay for the visual and qualitative details of the work. On the other hand, there is no will to encourage and support shows without stars. Of course, I’m glad to be out of this insane grip. Anyway, escape from everyday life has a price and I have paid the price. I hope that the situation will improve soon and all my friends near and far will appear on the stages with many enthusiastic spectators.
Sajjadian explained about the formation of the main character of the show: I must honestly say that Alireza’s character is a gloomy shadow of myself, with the difference that he has lost his fighting spirit in the face of the shortcomings of the world. Basically, I believe that every human being, especially young Iranians, if he does not deal with dangerous mental rains and vague cause-and-effect links of climatic and even global events, he will face a serious and severe danger of discouragement and depression. In fact, the greater the distance between the utopia based on justice, altruism and happiness in our minds and the real world, the more serious this danger becomes.
In the summary of the story of this dramatic work, the mind of a young man becomes the focus of the world’s shortcomings while mourning his mother. By suddenly kicking a cockroach, he creates a series of miseries that he cannot find a solution to. Finally, he makes a bold decision.
The show “Inflamed Temples” is on stage until October 21st every night at 20:30 at the Iranian Artists House.
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