‘Macbeth Zar’ is a production of Titowak Theater Group and Baran-Zagros, and directed by Ebrahim Poshtekouhi. It is a musical comedy that blends the Zar ritual of Iran’s southern Hormozgan Province with William Shakespeare’s tragedy ‘Macbeth’.
Zar is the term for an evil spirit that in southern parts of Iran is believed to possess individuals. A Zar ritual is the practice of exorcising such spirits from the possessed individual, which comprises food and musical performances culminating in ecstatic dancing.
In Poshtekouhi’s production, Macbeth lives on Hormoz Island, and kills Duncan, the chief organizer of the ritual called Babazar, in order to become the king of those possessed by the evil spirits, called Ahl-e Hava.
‘Macbeth Zar’ was the winner of the New Experience Section at the 28th Tehran International Theater Festival in 2009. It also went on to grab the award for the best theater ensemble and best performance in Moscow Nights Theater Festival in 2012. France’s Avignon Festival and Armenia’s HighFest Theater Festival also hosted the play.
Poshtekouhi was invited by the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory to stage ‘Macbeth Zar’ on March 27, concurrent with the World Theater Day.
The play, which is over 10 years old and has been staged over 100 times since its first performance in various countries such as Germany, Armenia, India and Russia, will now open the Internaitonal Theater Festival of the Republic of Azerbaijan on May 13. The festival will run through May 20, 2018.
Source: Mehr News