TEHRAN- The 42nd Fajr International Theater Festival kicked off in Tehran on Sunday, with the stage section featuring six Iranian plays.

The festival's stage shows are being held at various venues, including Vahdat Hall, City Theater Complex, Sangelaj Hall, Molvi Theater, Hafez Hall, Art Hall, Mehrab Theater Complex, and Iranshahr Hall.

The Street Theater Section of the festival will start its work on Monday with six performances. 

The 42nd Fajr International Theater Festival will be running until February 1. 

Last week, the secretary of the festival announced that this edition of the event has a special section dedicated to Gaza, where nine plays on this issue are being performed.

Gaza section is one of the five new sections added to the festival this year. “In total, the festival will have 12 sections,” Mehdi Hamedsaqayan said.

“Due to the crimes of the Zionist regime in Gaza, we issued a call for plays in support of the Palestinians. We received several street and stage performances on this subject, and finally, nine works were selected to be performed at the festival,” he added.

According to the secretary, “hope, cheerfulness, and empathy” is the motto he has chosen for this year’s festival.

“A total of eight plays from Armenia, Greece, Tajikistan, Iraq, and Italy will take part in the international section,” Hamedsaqayan noted.

“The festival secretariat received about 1,650 works this year. There will be 34 plays in the Iranian Theater Competition. Moreover, 33, 25, and 11 plays will compete in the student, street, and radio theater sections respectively.”

Speaking about other sections, he said that the national identity section deals with martyrs and national heroes such as Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and poet Malik Al-Shu’ara Bahar. There will also be 21 plays competing in the inclusive section with the help of the Welfare Organization and dedicated to people with disabilities, he stated.

Last year's festival featured an extraordinary lineup of ten international troupes taking the stage.

Iraqi director Mohammad Moayyed’s troupe performed “Mercy Shot”, while another Iraqi troupe with director Javad Asadi took “Amal” on stage.

“Amal” was the big winner of the 41st Fajr International Theater Festival by garnering awards in three categories, including best director and best play.

Written and directed by Jawad Al-Assadi, the play focuses on the hardship of wartime and the question arises whether it is right to invite someone else into this world under these conditions.

The play also brought Haider Juma the award for best actor, while set designer Ali Al-Sudani and actress Rizab Ahmad Hassan Al-Karkhi won honorable mentions for their collaboration in this production.

Spanish director Txema Munoz staged “Lumiere” (“Light”), and Hafiz Khalifa from Tunisia directed a stage adaptation of Italian poet Dante Alighieri’s “The Divine Comedy”. 

Omani director Yousuf Al-Bulushi competed at the festival with “Henna Pestle”, and Jordanian director Ayad Al-Rimoni participated at the festival with “Naqoura Train”. 

Armenian director Ara Yernjakyan, the founder and artistic director of the Yerevan State Chamber Theater, staged William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, while Russian writer Nikolay Mikhaylovich Karamzin’s 1792 story “Bednaya Liza” (“Poor Liza”), was directed by his renowned compatriot Mark Rozovsky.

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

An adaptation of Nikolay Gogol’s short story “The Overcoat” (“Shinel”) was also staged by a Russian troupe.

SAB/