TEHRAN-The play “Requiem for a Nun” written by Albert Camus and directed by Mohsen Alimohammadi was launched at Ahura Theater in Tehran on Wednesday.

Alimohammadi also performs in the play along with Samira Salimi, Baran Sotoudeh, Farshad Kokabian, Yahya Golnesaei, Mehdi Fartash, and Arman Karkhaneh, IRNA reported.

Published in 1962, the play was adapted from William Faulkner's 1951 novel of the same name, as Camus had a great admiration for Faulkner.

A work of fiction, it is a sequel to Faulkner's early novel “Sanctuary,” which introduced the characters of Temple Drake, her friend (later husband) Gowan Stevens, and Gowan's uncle Gavin Stevens. 

The events in “Requiem for a Nun” are set in Faulkner's fictional Yoknapatawpha County and Jackson, Mississippi, in November 1937 and March 1938, eight years after the events of “Sanctuary”. In the play, Temple, now married with a child, must learn to deal with her violent, turbulent past.

The story begins when the death sentence is pronounced on the nurse Nancy for the murder of Temple and Gowan’s child. Told partly in prose, partly in play form, “Requiem for a Nun” is a haunting exploration of the impact of the past on the present.

Like many of Faulkner's works, “Requiem for a Nun” experiments with narrative technique. The main narrative, which is presented in dramatic form, is interspersed with prose sections recounting the history of the fictional Yoknapatawpha County. Each prose section focuses on a specific institution (the courthouse, state house, and jailhouse respectively) that serves as the setting for the following dramatic section of the story.

The major theme of the story concerns spiritual redemption for past evil deeds through suffering and the recognition of one's guilt.

Faulkner (1897–1962) was a Nobel Prize-winning American novelist and short story writer. One of the most influential writers of the twentieth century, his reputation is based mostly on his novels, novellas, and short stories. He was also a published poet and an occasional screenwriter.

Camus (1913–1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, journalist, and political activist. He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. Two of his works also won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

The play will be performed until February 23 at Ahura Theater located at Erfan Art Complex, South Mofatteh Ave., Haft-e-Tir Square.

SS/SAB