The collection “Three Animalistic Plays” includes the fantasy plays “A Lion That Roared”, “The Little Pacifist Sparrow” and “Dew in the Ocean”, all featuring elements from comic stories and musicals.
This is Kamgari’s fourth collection, coming after his “Three Plays on One Set” published by Yekshanbeh this year.
The poetic language is common to all the plays in “Three Animalistic Plays”.
“A Lion That Roared” has been written based on Shel Silverstein’s 1963 story “Lafcadio: The Lion Who Shot Back”.
This play is about two clowns who have migrated from their homeland traveling in Europe to vend some objects. To portray the story of their own lives, the clowns decide to perform a puppet show about a lion that has left the jungle to live in a sprawling city. Now, the lion has garnered a reputation and honors in the city, however, yet life is not satisfactory for him. The story ends with the lion’s return to the jungle and restoring his identity and past majesty. But the clowns’ problem still remains.
“The Little Pacifist Sparrow” is a satire on some racist and class conflicts between two groups of characters, however, it also features some tragic and sad moments.
In “Dew in the Ocean”, a monster and a fish embark on a long journey, during which a love relationship begins between them. The play is about exile and loyalty.
In “Three Animalistic Plays”, Kamgari follows the genre of the classic, Kelileh and Demneh, which tells stories about animals.
The Kelileh and Demneh, also spelled Kalila and Dimna, is mainly a translation of an Indian book, Penchatentra written in Sanskrit and published some 1500 years ago.
The original translation was done from Sanskrit into Pahlavi (Middle Persian) by Barzuyeh. Ibn Moghafaa translated it from Pahlavi to Arabic. Finally, Nasrollah Monshi translated it into Persian from Arabic.
“Three Animalistic Plays” has been published by Dayereye Sefid. Kamgari is also the author of the bestselling “The Ceiling of This Home Is Low”.
Source:Tehran Times