TEHRAN – Iranian director and writer Shadi Asadpur plans to stage an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s masterpiece Macbeth at Tehran’s Divare Chaharom Theater on March 7.

The play entitled “Nightmares” centers on Macbeth’s incubi after killing King Duncan to accede to the throne. Lady Macbeth and Duncan are now his bad dreams, which do not leave him alone.

Actor Farzin Mohaddes will be collaborating in this production as a casting director.

Shaqayeq Zalpur, Mahsa Mirkazemi, Kimia Moradi-Rafiq, Mohammad-Saeid Ahangar, Helia Atai, Ali Anisi and ten other actors will be performing in the production.

The actors have been selected from a group of students attending acting workshops recently organized by Asadpur and Mohaddes in the city of Borujerd.

Macbeth is a Scottish general who has been fighting for King Duncan. Three witches tell Macbeth that he will become king of Scotland. Macbeth is spurred by his ambition and his wife, and he murders Duncan and accedes to the throne. His reign is bloody and tyrannical and ended by the combined forces of Scotland and England.  

Iranian directors have previously staged adaptations of Macbeth in several performances.

The Titowak Theater Group led by Iranian director Ebrahim Poshtkuhi performed “Hey Macbeth, Only the First Dog Knows Why It Is Barking” based on the tragedy in 2009.

Members of the troupe Mise en Scene led by director Masud Tayyebi also performed “When Hamlet Was Killed by Macbeth’s Witches” based on Macbeth and Shakespeare’s other popular play Hamlet at the Iranian Artists Forum in 2017.

He also directed the play again in Tehran in November 2020.

Photo: Actor Farzin Mohaddes and director Shadi Asadpur are scheduled to collaborate on “Nightmares”, an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s masterpiece Macbeth.

MMS/YAW