‘The Blood Knot’ is on stage at Iran Theatre Forum. It is directed by Hooshmand Honarkar, dramaturge and designer.
The play is an adaptation of ‘The Blood Knot’ (1961), later revised to ‘Blood Knot’ (1987) written by South African playwright, actor and director Athol Fugard. Its single-performance premier was in 1961 in Johannesburg, South Africa, with the playwright and Zakes Mokae playing the brothers Morris and Zachariah.
The play was prepared for broadcast on British television twice in the 1960s. The first version, directed by Charles Jarrott, was shot in May 1963 for the highly regarded Armchair Theatre anthology series, but was never broadcast, although the recording has survived. After the rights on the script lapsed, another production for the BBC 2’s Theatre 625 strand was made in 1967, with Fugard’s collaboration.
Honarkar has rewritten the 50-year old play adapting to today’s world and interpersonal relationship changes, ISNA reported.
The story of two brothers, it portrays the challenges they face due to their ethnic background.
The cast members include Jamshid Safari and Masoud Mehrabi.
Harold Athol Fugard (born 1932) is best known for his political plays opposing apartheid rule in South Africa and for the 2005 Academy Award-winning film of his novel Tsotsi, directed by Gavin Hood. Fugard is a professor of playwriting, acting and directing in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of California, San Diego.
Background
Honarkar has a MA degree from the Tehran University of Fine Arts. He started acting and directing in 1987.
He directed the plays ‘The Brass Butterfly’ by William Golding in 2013, ‘Hello and Goodbye’ by Fugard in 2011, and acted in ‘Emigranten’ by Slawomir Mrozek and Mehrdad Khameneh and the absurd comedy show ‘The Ladder’ by Khameneh, in 2014.
He has also staged ‘Antigone’ by Sophocles, ‘The Drapes Come’ by Charles Dizenzo and ‘Karol’ by Slawomir Mrozek.
He is a member on the board of directors of the actors and directors club at the Iranian Theatre Forum and has written numerous articles on theatre.
