Arvand Dashtaray, founder and managing director of Virgule Performing Arts Company, has been invited to the 52nd edition of the Berliner Theatertreffen in Germany, along with 38 artists from 20 countries.
“A number of artists from across the world were invited to participate and exchange ideas during an international forum at the event,” he said in an interview with ISNA.
The international forum is a two-week program by Berliner Theatertreffen Festspiele (festival), which supports theater makers from all over the world. It is the basis for a comprehensive artistic exchange in an international context within the Theatertreffen program. Dashtaray, director and stage designer, will share his experiences with his fellow field experts during a colloquium titled ‘Intertextuality in Intercultural Theater’ by presenting a seminar on ‘The Process of Theater Making in the Middle East in Contrast with Western Europe’.
He has previously directed a play titled ‘London, Rome, Tehran, Amsterdam,’’ a co-production between his company and the STET English Theatre of the Netherlands.
His emphasis is on developing and promoting Iran’s theater industry on a global scale. “That is why I worked towards attending the forum to introduce the diverse Iranian theater.There are numerous theater groups “in a variety of styles and age groups” operating in the country whose collaboration with top global festivals, theater groups, and companies should be facilitated.”
Potentials
Dashtaray has also attended a technical panel discussion titled ‘Junction’ in Cambridge, England to promote Iranian theater and its potentials for international co-production.
Theatertreffen is an annual theatre festival in Berlin, Germany. Every year, the most important German theater festival attracts guest from around the world as it presents the ten most notable productions of the year. The prestigious festival will take place from May 1 to 17.
The Virgule Performing Arts Company is among the few that continues its activities with a focus on intercultural collaboration, which “cannot happen without government support on both sides.” Dashtaray appreciated the cooperation of the Goethe Institute and the German embassy in Tehran in this regard.
