Thirteen plays, including eight outdoor performances, were staged across the Iranian capital on the first day of the event.
Iran’s Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Mohammad-Mehdi Esmaeili, in a message on the opening of the festival, described the traditional performance art as a “precious intangible heritage” of Iranian culture, adding, “This type of art consolidates the folk culture and social communication throughout the Iranian society, while it, in close association with the Iranian artists and experts, contributes to the art economically.”
Works of Sasan Mehr-Pouyan, Pejman Kashefi, Ali Tarabi, Pouyan Ataei, and Melika Razi were among the first-day plays of the event, with 15 more plays to be performed today.
Different forms of Iranian traditional performances, such as marionette, naqqali, or storytelling, siah bazi (acting black), and pardeh khani (reading off the screen or curtain), are to be staged at several metro stations of Tehran, while all the shows will be available for online viewing on the festival’s official website and other social media platforms.
A review session of the book ‘A Study on Iranian Theater’, written by prominent Iranian filmmaker and stage director Bahram Beyzaei in 1965, is among other events at this year’s festival.
Source: Iran Daily