TEHRAN – “A Soup for the Reconciliation Party” won the best theater award at the 27th edition of Iran’s International Theater Festival for Children and Young Adults on Monday in Hamedan.

Director Mohammad Jahanpa received the award in the Young Adults Theater competition during the closing ceremony of the festival, which was attended by the elites of young adult and children’s theater in Iran.

The story of the play directed by Mohammad Jahanpa is set in a nowhere village named “Ashabad”, literally means soup-village, where Sara has been separated from her brother Sina due to an ethnic difference between their grandparents, who are living in the two different parts of the village. However, Sara and Sina start making a concerted effort to bring about reconciliation between the two parts of their village.

Set designer Mehdi Sharifi and music composer Omid-Sanjar Musavi were awarded for their collaboration in this play.

The award for best actor was given to Ali Tarimi for his role in “Geppetto” directed by Oshan Mahmudi.

The play has been inspired by Geppetto, the Italian fictional character in the 1883 novel “The Adventures of Pinocchio” by Carlo Collodi. 

In this play, Pinocchio is never a wooden puppet, even Geppetto is not a woodcarver or puppet maker too. He is an ordinary man with a special habit.

The play also brought Azin Nazeri the award for best actress. In addition, Shahab Mahmudi won the award for best costume designer for his collaboration in this production.

In the Children’s Theater competition, the award for best play was given to “Playing Room” directed by Arian Nasserimehr.

The play tells the story of a little boy and his little sister who decide to initiate a game with their own waste during a boring evening.

Director and writer Sharaeh Tayyar’s troupe received the special jury award for their performance “Everybody in On Frame”.

In this educational play, a monkey, a porcupine and an elephant befriend a giraffe. They picnic every day, having great adventures with each other, but, the giraffe learns to say no cordially to his friends sometimes. 
  
Tayyar was also picked as best playwright for writing the play, for which Amir-Hossein Ensafi won the award for best actor.

Fatemeh Khodbandelu was selected as best actress for her role in “Ding, Ding, Dang”, which brought the award for best set designer to Hamed Zahmatkesh.

In the Street Theater category, “A Certain Day” directed by Mehdi Habibi was picked as best play and its star Hurad Habibi won the special jury award. 
 
Photo: Director Mohammad Jahanpa accepts the award for his play “A Soup for the Reconciliation Party” at the 27th of Iran’s International Theater Festival for Children and Young Adults in Hamedan on June 27, 2022. (ISNA/Puria Pakizeh)

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