The Devil's Ship in Tehran

04/22/09

My cultural thirst for diversity has been fulfilled on and off by good films, concerts and on rare occasion theatre. So I was delighted that last Friday our friend Sharareh invited us and a few others to see The Devil's Ship, a play by the well known man of theatre in Iran Mr Attila Pessyani. We met Mr Pessyani there and I was very much impressed with the fact that the play started on time.

Below I have the press release for you, but may I just add that I liked the play and specially the script very much. I think with such limitations regarding decoration and other things on art and art scene these days, they had done a very good job. In my opinion all their performances were good but Ms Fatemeh Naghavi was simply superb. The play was staged by the Bazi theater group and I look forward to seeing more of their work soon. Please make sure if you wish to see this play with English super-titles please go there on one of the next 3 Wednesdays.

We finished the evening very chicly by dropping by our friends' Caf� 78 in Aban street which is not far from the City Theatre and had a light dinner. Jaye shoma khali (we missed you)!

The Devil's Ship, a successful play by Attila Pessyani has opened at the Chaharsou Hall of the Shahr (City) Theatre in Tehran.

It will run until the end of April, and every Wednesday will be performed with English supertitles. The play was performed at the Edinburgh Festival in August last year.

Synopsis

Five women are living on an abandoned island, all the men have left and they are contemplating whether to leave or to stay. As a strange ship appears on the horizon their peace is shattered.

The crescent moon is a common symbol in the Muslim world and when the crescent appears at the bottom of the moon it creates a shape reminiscent of a boat. This is the Devil's Ship.

Bazi Theatre Company was founded in 1989 by Attila Pessyani who as a young actor worked with Peter Brook and the legendary Polish theatre maker Tadeusz Kantor, both of whom visited Iran in the heyday of the Shiraz Festival of Arts.

Performance Details

Bazi Theatre Company

Written by Attila Pessyani

Attila Pessyani

Cast: Fatemeh Naghavi, Setareh Pessyani, Sahar Dowlatshahi, Pegah Tabasi Nejad and Elham Shakib
Attila Pessyani Writer, designer and director
Ankido Darash Sound design and music
Ali Tabrizi Film

Photo: Ali Tabrizi

Reviews

'a theatrical style that combines powerful threads of Iranian thought, music and imagery with a deep experience of post-Sixties European theatre from Brook to Kantor, and with an unsettling mid-Asian magic realism.'

- The Scotsman on Bazi Theatre Company

City Theater - Valiasr crossing, corner of Daneshjou Park, Tehran

Caf� 78 - http://www.payvand.com/news/08/jul/1237.html