Aidin Olfat is staging his latest performance ‘91913’ at Hafez Theater hall in Tehran. The production is a novel innovative approach to sound technology, quite new in Iran.
Talking to IRNA about his sound-based performance, he said “91913 is a play with only one personage. In such works the performer either reacts or communicates with the props or plays different roles. Instead, I removed both and replaced the actions with sound.”
Olfat asserted that technology can complement playing of roles. “I have studied sound academically as my major was electronic engineering and have tried to introduce sound engineering since 2010. With this dramatic experience I intend to experiment in modern theater with sound.”
On professional theater artists “lending their voice” to the performance, Olfat said as sound plays the lead role, the physical presence of professional actors and actresses was not necessary on stage “but their magnified voice heard from the various speakers strategically placed in the hall completes the performance. Thus the ‘souls’ impact the audience through their voices and not physical presence.”
‘Dolby Sound’
The ‘Dolby sound’ an electronic noise-reduction system has been used in this performance for the first time in the country and “is played on three different levels to create stereophonic sound effects.”
In response to a question on whether a more dramatized version would be better, he said “I did not intend to do a professional theater project. I rather wanted to experiment with what I always wished to try on stage: sound. Maybe we do not have as many viewers as other productions but from the feedback I can say the audience has accepted sound effects and the voiceover of actors/actresses as the pivot of the performance.”
In 91913, the audience envisions the journey of ‘wandering souls’ that sound technology has tried to portray.
On the stage design, Olfat said: “As the play has no ‘time or place’, I decided to design it in a way the audience can’t guess the place. Also there is no color but grey. I wanted a fluid atmosphere even in stage design that suits the fluidity of the work.”
Sina Karami is the only performer, and other known names in theater industry including Masoud Raygan, Roya Teymourian, Ahmad Mehranfar, Kambiz Dirbaz, and Baran Kosari contribute to the work as voice artists.
The play will be staged till October 10.
