Story of Woody Allen sexual abuse allegation inspires Tehran musical play
TEHRAN – A musical play on stage at a Tehran theater is centering on an allegation by American director and actor Woody Allen’s daughter Dylan Farrow that he sexually assaulted her when she was 7 years old.
“How Long Do You Think a Man’s Legs Should Be?” has been written based on Allen’s short drama “The Query”, director and writer Majid Ebrahimzadeh told the Persian service of Honaronline.
“My play has been inspired by a story from Allen’s life, in which he was accused of abusing his adopted daughter and I wrote the play with some real and imaginary characters,” he said.
After a five-year hiatus, Allen is determined to make a film about Franz Kafka, his favorite writer. Following a casting call published in the New York Times, three women come to his office.
“The musical nature of the black comedy causes the audience to be attracted; in addition, they are impressed by the brilliant performance of the cast members, who are not very famous but can play the complicated roles of the characters,” Ebrahimzadeh noted.
The play is performed at Hafez Hall by Fojan Tajik, Armin Eftekharzadeh, Marjan Afruz, Siavash Zangi, Milad Ramezani, Mahsa Monfared, Elaheh Adabi, Aram Nikbin, Ariana Abbasi, Milad Parmuseh, Ali Nasseri, Farhan Farizeh and Shaahin Zargar.
Due to the unrest currently occurring across the country, people have shown considerable reluctance to go to theaters and films over the past two months.
Ebrahimzadeh said that musical and theatrical performances should never be shut down in this situation.
“I think people would feel better after watching a performance,” he said asking theatergoers to advertise the play in the absence of social media.
His troupe, including actors, musicians and technicians, were rehearsing for eight months to stage the play and he wants their performance to be noticed.
Photo: Armin Eftekharzadeh acts in a scene from the musical “How Long Do You Think a Man’s Legs Should Be?” at Hafez Hall in Tehran. (Photo by Amir Naeimian)
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