Soroush Taheri, the show’s director, told Honaronline that a show must assuage the pain of any given society. According to him, Bella Figura is translated by Behrouz Sarvalishahi and it is its first performance in Iran. Susan Maghsoudlou, Maneli Hosseinpour, Maysam Razfar, Shohreh Raayati, Behrouz Sarvalishahi and Reza Izadkhan star in the play.
He says he wrote the play for the people of Iran in 2015, and that in Italian the title means pretty face. He goes on to state that many people have beautiful faces but behind that façade a lot is happening.
In his words: “This is a realist play, is acted in a realist manner, and there is no other method to take it to the stage. The stage design must be realist as well. The problem is that our theatre house is small, and we had to go for a minimalist approach.”
The director goes on to remember that the rehearsals took two months, and that he never bothered to go after A-list stars of the Iranian cinema: “This is a new play. It has been translated for the first time in Iran, published by Afraz Publications. I financed the project with a helping hand from the production crew. Now we need all the help we can get from the audience for the show to go on.”
Taheri believes no theater should be directed unless it will allay a pain of the society, adding that theater must introduce new plays or shows or have a fresh creative approach towards old subjects. The director adds that the artists could move theater a step forward only if they will take the above-mentioned considerations into account.
He rejects employment of celebrities into theater shows and stresses on conserving theater as an artistic medium.
Taheri also says despite some financial problems, he ruled out that plays should be staged for ticket sale.
Bella Figura pictures a man and woman in a car-park outside a country restaurant. It has frequent suspension when the characters and audience are left in ambiguous tension.
Tickets are available for purchase online until January 20 at www.tiwal.com.