Actor and director Javad Ensafi, 65, has brought his five years of research in Norouz (New Year) traditions and festivities into a play based on the vernal equinox.
Ensafi’s play titled ‘Norouz Khani’ (Norouz singing), a special folk music performance, will start a week after Norouz or the spring equinox that falls on March 20 ( 1.58 pm) this year, Mehr News Agency reported. Norouz marks the beginning of the Iranian New Year.
The show is set to open on March 28 at Mashayekhi auditorium of Khavaran Theater Complex, also known as Tehran Theater Campus. The play will run for about a month, starting each night at 8.
The practice of Norouz Khani is more prevalent in the northern provinces of Mazandaran and Gilan. In the play written and directed by Ensafi, he has included the folk performances of the two provinces, along with the songs performed by ‘Haji Firouz,’ a blackface character clad in bright red, wearing a felt hat, a role that Ensafi has frequently played and is famous for.
Haji Firouz is the companion of Baba Norouz, a fictional figure in Iranian folklore. Together with Haji Firouz, Baba Norouz appears during spring or the start of the Persian New Year.
The play is an account of a meeting between the two fictional characters and a child. The child keeps asking questions about Norouz. The questions are answered by Baba Norouz and Haji Firouz in a series of songs and narration of stories.
With plenty of experience in such roles, Ensafi plays the role of Haji Firouz. His sons Amir Mohammad and Amir Hossein are also in the cast.
Other actors include Forough Yazdan, Tina Norouzi, Fereshteh Azami, Niloufar Sayari and Ahmad Ahesteh. Choreography is by Hamed Nasrabadian, and décor by Sassan Farhadpour. Costumes and puppets are designed by Forough Yazdan.
Khavaran Theater Complex is located on Baqaee Street near Malek Ashtar Square.
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