2 Film Stars in Moradi’s Play on Mideast Conflicts

Two movie stars will play in ‘Love Letters from the Middle East’, directed by playwright and theater director Kiumars Moradi.

Winner of Crystal Simorgh for Best Actress at 2012 Fajr International Film Festival, Hanieh Tavassoli, 37, and Tannaz Tabatabai, 33, accompanied by Pantea Panahiha, 39, will perform in the 65-minute play.

The newly established Paliz theater hall in Tehran at No 69, Sepand St., Aban St., Karimkhan Blvd., will stage the play which opens on December 12 and run through January 11, starting at 7:30 pm daily, ISNA reported.

The play was written three years ago by Moradi and playwright and screenwriter Pourya Azarbaijani, 35, who also directs film and theater. It portrays three stories of three women whose lives are affected in different ways by wars in the Middle East, and social problems.

Jamileh is an Iraqi refugee living in England. Her belongings are stolen. It is devastating for her to lose her family photos, the only keepsake she has of them. Jamileh goes to the authorities to report the theft. They demand to know her identity before taking action, but she has no identity documents.

In the second story, Goli a woman who has acid thrown on her face, seeks financial assistance for herself and two other similarly disfigured girls.

The third is about an American woman named Angela whose husband, a US soldier, is missing in Afghanistan. She embarks on a dangerous journey to Afghanistan to find him.

The play explores the opportunities for peace and understanding that can grow out of the ashes of the tragic wars in current times.

The script of the play has sad, poetic language. It shares the complex and heartfelt stories of ordinary people and honors those who have lost almost everything in war.

 Experienced Director & Teacher

Moradi, 43, is a graduate of dramatic art literature from Islamic Azad University and theater direction from Cinema & Theater Faculty of Art University.

An experienced director he also teaches at Islamic Azad University’s Art and Architecture Faculty, the Hamid Samandarian Acting Institute and Amin Tarokh Free Acting Workshop.

Among the famous plays Moradi has directed are ‘Simorgh’s Last Feather’ by actor and playwright Mohammad Charmshir and ‘The Eight Journey of Sinbad’ by playwright, screenwriter and film and theater director Bahram Beyzaee.

He has also directed another play ‘Skyless City’ written by Azarbaijani.

His special interest in the works of screenwriter and playwright Naghmeh Samini led to his direction of a number of her plays including ‘The House’, ‘Secrets and Lies’, ‘Dream in Empty Cup’, ‘Death and the Poet’ and ‘Dream of an Autumn’s Midnight’.

Moradi has also directed ‘Elektra’, a tragedy by 5th century BC Greek tragedian Sophocles; ‘Romeo and Juliet’, a Shakespearean romantic tragedy; and ‘The Lesson’ by 20th century playwright Eugene Ionesco.