TEHRAN – The 41st Fajr International Theater Festival organized a conference on Sunday at Tehran’s City Theater Complex to launch the Islamic World Theater Union.

The president of the festival, Kurosh Zarei, a number of organizers and guests from eight countries attended the two-day conference.

The director of the General Office for Dramatic Arts of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Kazem Nazari, emphasized the need for the launch of the union and praised the organizers for their decision to establish it.

He asked the organizers to write a constitution for the association to allow it to start its activity. 

For his part, Zarei said, “I have had the honor of meeting all the guests participating in this festival.”

“Troupes from your countries are participating in this festival with brilliant performances, which impressed Iranian stage artists and people,” he added. 

“I hope that the union will help shape great events in the world. Theater is a means that help bridge the gap between us and unite everybody to make peace and friendship across the world,” he asserted.

He expressed his hope that the union may help unite all Muslim countries and support people of the modern world to save themselves from misunderstandings.

Iranian Islam scholar Hassan Rahimpur Azghadi delivered a speech at the conference, to which 20 papers from ten Muslim countries were presented.

Troupes from Oman, Iraq, Tunisia and Jordan are participating in the festival, which ends on Tuesday.  

Performances from Brazil, Russia, Spain and Armenia went on stage at the festival, and several theater experts from Ireland, Serbia, Algeria and Russia held workshops.

Among the big names attending the festival was Spanish director Txema Munoz who staged his popular production “Lumiere” (“Light”).

“Apatridas” (“Stateless”), a multimedia play divided into two monologues written by Carina Casuscelli was staged by Brazilian director Lenerson Polonini.  

The play is based on female and male characters from fragments of Greek myths and tragedies.

Photo: President of the 41st Fajr International Theater Festival, Kurosh Zarei (1st R) and his colleagues pose after unveiling a poster for a conference for a union of the Islamic world theater in Tehran on January 29, 2023. (IRNA)  

MMS/YAW