TEHRAN – A play on stage at a Tehran theater portrays the widows of six Iranian pilots sharing their feelings of nostalgia for their courtships and nuptials after losing their husbands in the Iran-Iraq war. 

“Fragments of Several Lives” has been written by Kianush Ahmadi based on six books from the series “Description of the Sky” that features memoirs of the widows of Alireza Yasini, Abbas Babai, Abbas Doran, Mansur Sattari, Hamidreza Soheilian and Javad Fakuri.

Speaking to the Persian service of MNA, director Shiva Dinarvand said that the play is far from the stereotype found in Iranian films and plays.  

In her twenties, she intends to show the youth in her generation wartime life as it really is. She is from Abadan where her family experienced the horror and vulgarity of the war.

“In ‘Fragments of Several Lives’, six ordinary women are talking about the memories of their engagements and marriage and how they met their husbands for the first time,” Dinarvand said.

“I want to show that the heroes of the war and their families were as ordinary as other people; we should not portray an unrealistic or a sacred image of the heroes; it would be unacceptable to the audiences,” she noted.

In the beginning, the play shows the women preparing to attend the wedding ceremony of a girl who has lost her father in the war. The activity involved in the preparation causes them to indulge in nostalgia for the early days of their marriages and each one recounts her own story.

“In the setting, a plate piled high with dates has been placed on a wedding decoration table that symbolizes those brides whose marriages ended in mourning as a result of the war,” Dinarvand said.

Iranians traditionally serve dates to their guests in mourning ceremonies for their beloved ones.

“The play is staged with a live cello performance representing womanly songs and their gentle spirit. At the same time, the music also features the grief they felt over the loss of their husbands,” noted Dinarvand, who believes that women and their roles in the war, and the anguish they suffered have been disregarded.

A cast comprising Nastaran Ebrahimzadeh, Shahrzad Kiani, Nazanin Mihan, Fahimeh Moein, Sahar Aqasi and Mahnaz Rudsaz is performing “Fragments of Several Lives” at the Qashqai Hall of the City Theater Complex. Gazal Raki is the cellist.

Photo: “Fragments of Several Lives” by Shiva Dinarvand.

MMS/YAW