TEHRAN-The play “The Advertisement” by Italian writer Natalia Ginzburg is on stage at the City Theater in Tehran.

Mehdi Arjmand has directed the one-hour play that has Elham Rezaei, Farhad Etemadi, and Mehrnaz Alinejad in the cast.

First performed in Great Britain by the National Theater in 1968, it is a three-act play that looks at the relationship between Teresa and Elena, and Teresa's former lover Lorenzo.

“The Advertisement” centers around Teresa, a lonely woman separated from her husband, who rents out her spare room to Elena, a young woman attending university in Rome. 

From the moment Elena walks in the door, Teresa talks almost incessantly about her horrible childhood and her tumultuous marriage to Lorenzo, her estranged husband. After five years of marriage, Lorenzo left Teresa upon discovering her affair with his best friend. Teresa, however, is still obsessed with their relationship and is still in love with Lorenzo, although she broods resentfully over his treatment of her.

Elena moves into Teresa’s spare room, and the two become friends. Elena enjoys Teresa’s company, listening sympathetically to her long, sad monologues, although Teresa’s demands on her attention prevent her from studying.

However, their relationship takes a turn when Lorenzo turns up at the house and subsequently begins an affair with Elena.

As in many of her plays, Ginzburg is concerned with the experiences of women in modern marriage and modern relationships. In the character of Teresa, she also explores the theme of obsessive love.

Natalia Ginzburg (1916-1991) was an Italian author whose work explored family relationships, politics during and after the Fascist years and World War II, and philosophy. 

She wrote novels, short stories, and essays, for which she received the Strega Prize and Bagutta Prize. Most of her works were also translated into English and published in the United Kingdom and the United States.

“The Advertisement” will remain on stage through February 21 at the City Theater located at Daneshjoo Park, junction of Enghelab and Valiasr streets.

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