The play ‘Sun’s Way, Sky’s Secret’, directed by Shokrekhoda Goudarzi, will take the stage on May 13 at Tehran City Theater to commemorate the celebrated Persian poet Ferdowsi (940–1020 AD).
It is an adaptation of ‘The Battle of Rostam and Esfandiyar’, a story in the Shahnameh (literally the book of kings), the long epic poem written by Ferdowsi between 977 and 1010 AD, ISNA reported.
“The play casts a hermeneutic look at the story, which is the first battle of religions in the mythical history narrated by Shahnameh,” said Goudarzi, adding that when Zoroastrianism was born, the Kayanian king, Goshtasp, announced it as the official religion of the territory, enabling the Prophet Zoroaster to spread the religion.
Although Goshtasp is aware of the prediction that foretells the death of his son Esfandiyar at the hand of a Mithraist hero, Rostam, he compels the young man to bring the aging Rostam in chains for his arrogance and disrespect towards the king, promising that on completing the mission he will give the throne to Esfandiyar and retire. Esfandiyar initially protests, reminding his father of Rostam’s fame, great age and services to the dynasty, but eventually complies and sets out towards Rostam’s home.
“The contradictions have similarities with the present (sectarian) divisions in the Middle East,” Goudarzi noted.
The play was earlier staged at the 34th Fajr International Theater Festival and was well-received by the audience.
Jalil Farjad, Mohammad Sadeqi, Navid Goudarzi, Kazem Hajir-Azad, Saghar Azizi, Majid Jafari and Maneli Hosseinpour are the cast.
Abu?l-Qasim Ferdowsi Tusi wrote the Shahnameh under the patronage of the Samanid and the Ghaznavid courts of Persia. Ferdowsi is celebrated as the most influential figure in Persian literature and one of the greatest in the history of literature.
