Eugene Ionesco’s play ‘The Chairs’ directed by Hossein Rahimi is on stage at Baran Theater Hall in Tehran.
A production of Iranian Papion Theater Group, the play is performed by actors who are all physically and mentally challenged with some form of impairment.
Since its establishment in 2002, the group has improved a lot and staged several plays in and out of the country, Honaronline reported.
The absurd play concerns two characters, known as Old Man and Old Woman, who are frantically arranging chairs for a series of invisible guests. There is also an orator who speaks on the stage.
“It is about the people who have lost the meaning of life, so they just pretend they are playing games to continue their living,” Rahimi said pointing that the story is similar to the life of many people in the modern world.
However, the director has changed the ending. “At the end of the play, the two characters should commit suicide but I did not intend to promote such behavior so I changed it. In the new ending the two take separate boats and go their own way,” he said.
The group had successfully staged the play in Poland last year and is getting ready to perform it in Austria in May.
Rahimi has contributed significantly to bring change in the lives of disabled people by casting them in his plays. The global performances of the troupe have impacted audiences and critics in many countries.
The play has attended the Fajr Theater Festival in Iran and won two awards at the 11th Teatralny Koufar International Theater Festival in Belarus.
The cast includes Mehran Qandehari, Amin Jahangiri and Roya Hajihosseinlu. It will be on stage till March 15.
