Theatre director and playwright, Alireza Koushk Jalali will establish a playwrights’ foundation in Kerman city to provide financial and spiritual support to young talented dramatists.
Jalali has held workshops and staged numerous plays in several cities. He recently called for sponsors to set up a private foundation for playwrights in Kerman, Honaronline reported.
Kerman is the most important city in southeast Iran. It is famous for its long history and rich cultural heritage and is home to many historic mosques and Zoroastrian fire temples.
Jalali will also stage two plays ‘ God of Carnage ‘ by French dramatist Yasmina Reza and ‘Noises Off’ by Michael Frayn, English playwright and novelist, in collaboration with Kerman’s Artists Society.
‘God of Carnage’ (originally in French, ‘Le Dieu du carnage’) is about two sets of parents, one of whose child has hurt the other at a public park. They meet to discuss the matter in a civilized manner. However, as the evening goes on, the parents become increasingly childish, resulting in chaos. The play was a success in French, and has been equally acclaimed in English-translated productions in both London and New York. It was performed earlier in Tehran.
‘Noises Off’ (1982) contains a performance of the first act of a play within a play, a poor farce called ‘Nothing On’. “It unravels the chaotic theatre backstage situation is a less-experienced type of comedy and takes its title from the sounds coming offstage,” he said.
Requiring a rather complicated setting, the play will be co-directed by Jalali and Omid Taheri in Kerman and later in Tehran.
Concerned about the state of theatre in the provinces, he staged the ‘God of Carnage’ and ‘Robinson and Crusoe’ by Nino D’Introna and Giacomo Ravicchio, Italian dramatists, in Tabriz and ‘The Postman’ by Spanish Antonio Skarmeta in Kashan.
Jalali, 57, is a member of the directors’ club in Iran and Germany. He is also an author and his works are mostly in German. He has directed over 43 plays in Germany and 17 performances in Iran, bagging numerous prizes in directing and script writing at international theatre festivals.
He has also directed ‘The Last of the Ardent Lover’, ‘Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran’ (Dortmund), ‘Children’s Opera’, among others.
