TEHRAN – Iranian director Mahmudreza Karimi staged Bertolt Brecht’s “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” at Tehran’s City Theater Complex on Tuesday night in memory of the celebrated director and playwright Hamid Samandarian.

The play was one of the favorites of Samandarian and his wife, Homa Rusta, both of whom died of cancer in 2012 and 2015 respectively.

The first night performance at the Sayeh Hall of the complex was attended by the director of Iran’s Dramatic Arts Center Mehdi Shafiei and a number of actors and directors.

The play is the second production by the Samandarian Theater Academy in Tehran, which was established and named after Samandarian by Rusta and his son, Kaveh, in May 2013.

Kaveh, who also was in the audience to see the play, said that staging the play is so precious for him and that it gives him a good feeling to see the play.

Written by Bertolt Brecht, the most influential German dramatist and theoretician of the theater in the 20th century, “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” is about a singer-narrator who directs and comments on the poetic exploration of maternal sacrifice and justice.

The play will be on stage for a month at the complex.

Photo: A poster for “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” by director Mahmudreza Karimi

RM/MMS/YAW