"The Tree" directed by Eugenio Barba, the celebrated Italian theatre director, is on stage at Hafez Hall Theatre from 4-8 February. The workshops are held for Iranian theatrical figures too.

The actors of play include Luis Alonso, Parvathy Baul, I Wayan Bawa, Kai Bredholt, Roberta Carreri, Donald Kitt, Elena Floris, Carolina Pizarro, Fausto Pro, Iben Nagel Rasmussen and Julia Varley.

"The tree of History grows vigorously and dead. Around it, child-soldiers and praying monks dance together with warlords, a wrathful mother, and the daughter of a poet who, as a child, dreamed of flying away with her father. The tree of History finally bends under the weight of fruit and offers a home to the birds that are flying over the heads of the spectators."

A Master Class with Eugenio Barba and Julia Varley and a workshop for young performers led by Carolina Pizarro and Elena Floris are held in Tehran's City Theatre Complex.

Eugenio Barba was born in 1936 in Italy and grew up in the village of Gallipoli. He is an Italian author and theatre director based in Denmark. He is the founder of the Odin Theatre and the International School of Theatre Anthropology in Holstebro, Denmark.

Eugenio Barba has been awarded honorary doctorates from the Universities of Århus, Ayacucho, Bologna, Havana, Warsaw, Plymouth, Hong Kong, Buenos Aires, Tallinn, Cluj-Napoca, Edinburgh and Shanghai as well as the "Reconnaissance de Mérite Scientifique" from the University of Montreal and the Sonning Prize from the University of Copenhagen.

He is also the recipient of the Danish Academy Award, the Mexican Theatre Critics' prize, the Pirandello International Prize and The Thalia Prize from The International Association of Theatre Critics (IATC).