Directed by Farzin Nobarani, it is a free adaptation of “Yerma” a play by Spanish poet, playwright and theater director Federico García Lorca (1898-1936) written in 1934.
Plays from Egypt, Morocco, England, Thailand, Russia, Mexico, Chile and Czech Republic are also participating at the festival, Honaronline reported on its Persian website.
Lorca’s Yerma, literally meaning barren, tells the story of a childless woman living in rural Spain whose desperate desire for motherhood obsesses her and eventually drives her to commit a horrific crime.
Although originally a realistic play, Nobarani presents Yerma in a surrealist setting using symbolism and minimalism. It aims at defamiliarizing various objects of everyday life.
Defamiliarization is the artistic technique of presenting to audiences common things in an unfamiliar or strange way in order to enhance perception of the familiar. The term was first coined in 1917 by the Russian literary theorist, critic and writer Viktor Shklovsky in his essay “Art as Device”.
Shabnam Eskandari, Amir Farahani, Farzad Berahman, Abbas Alireza, Melina Qadimi and Soheil Qana’ati are in the cast.
The play has attended many national and international festivals, including the 3rd Theatrical Lori Festival in Armenia (2016) where it won the special jury award.
Source: Financial Tribune