Where is the process of creating performing arts going?/ Theater in Iran is hostage to production and government’s lack of planning

Charso Press: In the last years of the 10th government, Ali Rafiei, the well-known director of Iranian theater, in response to the question of why he staged theater with long intervals or – in other words – worked late, cited the economic factor as the main reason for the long interval between each performance period. did High costs and the cut off of government support, which practically led groups to short-term practice (decrease in quality) and pay more attention to box office sales. An approach that is not included in the dictionary of experienced theater artists. In describing this government strategy, he used an expression that seems more meaningful today; “Economic Censorship”. That is, by removing all-round support for theater production, the government practically caused theater groups to find another serious competitor in addition to the supervisory council of the General Department of Performing Arts, called “box office” and paying expenses. A decision that caused every director to have a “calculator” next to his play. the desk of the writer and director with an abacus; Because now he had to think about the number of actors (their salaries), the dimensions of the decor (the cost of wood and iron, etc.), the number of clothes needed (the cost of buying and sewing fabric) and (the total salary of the agents). He has to think of a solution for the number of exercises and the figures he needs to pay for the rental of the training plateau (also a tea and water and a simple biscuit). A point that caused some people to stop directing the show for a long time. For example, Farhad Mohandespour, a teacher and theater director who staged the important plays “Galilee”, “Dir Rahban” and “Macbete” in the seventies and was pushed to the sidelines in the following years, has been thinking about preparing a group performance with the presence of His students express their interest after several months of practice; But this never happens; Why? The reasons are clear. A half-view of Ali Rafiei’s performances between the performances of “It Doesn’t Snow in Egypt” (Vahdat Hall, 2007) and “Fox hunting.”(Vahdat hall, 2007) It shows how the lack of basic facilities for training and making theater creates a bump in the path of a director’s activities and the normal artistic life of people goes off the rails. We all know that in the end, the smoke will go to the eyes of art, culture and society. These will become history and all the unfinished and half-finished will be written in the name of government managers and governments. Especially when future generations will read that a director like Ali Rafiei has staged only 5 plays in the space of about a decade (12 years to be exact). It is interesting that the managers of the new government, like their predecessors, talk about cultural “railing”; However, they consciously (with written programs) cause the performance groups to leave the original and natural path of creation and production..
Let’s look at another example. Mohammad Rezaei Rad, a well-known playwright, director and teacher of our theater in the second half of the eighties, was practically not allowed to perform in theater. When he was able to return to the natural path (so that more audiences could encounter his works) when “Dolat Mehr”! Tables and chairs were handed over, and the 11th government partially reversed the anti-cultural practices of the previous government. Of course, this did not mean the relative opening of the space, but a little tolerance was put on the agenda. Examining the history of our culture and art also shows that it rarely happened that artists experienced the possibility of breathing in the open air, but whenever this minimum threshold was increased, brilliant works were created and culture and art took a big step forward. Mohammad Rezaeirad in the early years of the 90s shows “He directed “Duchess Melfi” and “The Verb”; Of course, before the outbreak of Corona and the farewell of the 12th government, this artist managed to stage the show “Angel of History” in the city theater complex; An incident that is unlikely to be repeated with the new agenda and doctrine of the gentlemen. In parentheses, I emphasize that yes! The presence of each of our theater directors and artists on stage is an event; Because most of the opposite is true in this case. Look, how many years does Ali Asghar Dashti stage a play? to the wide queue behind the doors of “Iranshahr Theater” and “Shahr Theater» look; Theater students and graduates have arrived. A government that failed to provide suitable facilities for the past generations, now has no choice but to exclude the older ones; Rather, a space should be opened for one or two new directors (only if we are positive!). I don’t get caught between playing with friends and partying and advice from senior managers. The fact that our theater groups do not have a low-cost space to practice and experiment, that the government does not give them money and budgets for theaters and has no idea to increase the infrastructure of the theater, all this means economic censorship. Look, Hamid is not Amjad; Cyrus is not Narimani; (Skip Bahram Bayzaei and Mohammad Yaqoubi?) Where are the young theater stars in the 70s and 80s today? Where is Alireza Naderi? Where are the winners of university festivals of the last decade today? Should the production method be changed? This is another important question that I will answer in the next note.

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