Iranian play ‘The Door,’ directed by Mehdi Mashhour and performed by Iran Sayeh Theatre Group, will go on stage at the Times Square Arts Center in New York in 2016.
The theme is on immigration and two women, both named Reyhaneh, talk about their unique situation and experiences as the play unfolds, Mehr News Agency reports.
“But deep inside,” Mashhour said, “the story focuses on dilemmas faced by the characters. Both women are set to leave their homeland for another country and in the entire time struggle with “the dilemma of the correctness of their decision,” he noted.
The show will be performed 20 times in New York. Lamenting that private theatre is getting shoddy treatment, Mashhour said the focus of the cultural authority is more on the Fajr theater festivals and other traditional theater.
Privatization of theater should not mean “lack of support by the government,” he noted. “As a rule, governments around the world do not interfere in theatre affairs, but do subsidize private theatre groups and companies.”
Clarifying that he is not against such events, he said the government should “not trigger competition between public and private theater as the field of art is not competitive by nature.”
Lacking Support
“It is not correct to allocate government funds to only one good festival among many, and authorize its public performance.” Despite a number of private theater halls that have been established in the country in the past few years, “no private theater groups have been formed due to lack of government support.”
Sayeh Theatre Group was founded by a group of artists in 2001, with focus on experimental theatre. It aims to achieve new patterns of performance through workshop experiences.
Earlier, a play titled ‘The Man and Words’ by the group was staged in Broadway Theater after a great reception by American audiences and theater companies in the Midtown International Theatre Festival. The play was also staged in Germany, France, Italy, Lithuania and Armenia.
The 70-minute ‘The Door’ was previously staged at the 9th edition of Donzdorf International Theater Festival on May 14 in the city of Stuttgart in Germany and is currently on stage in Tehran until December 8 at Arghanoun hall, No.1, Ziba Alley, before Vali-e Asr Ave., Razi Crossroad, Neauphle-le-Château Ave., Hafez Avenue.
