There Is No Other Choice Between Popular and Prestigious Shows

These days, the stage offerings for those who care about serious theater are mostly empty. Weak comedies and costly productions staged in hotels and sports stadiums are certainly not what this audience would find satisfying or encouraging.

Examining the conditions of the theater these days in an interview with Rahmat Amini, a university professor and theater director

These days, many shows on stage are often empty for those who care about serious theater. Weak comedies and expensive theaters staged in hotels and sports stadiums are definitely not what are satisfying and encouraging for this group.

Sefir Arjan, Shagaig Arfinejad: Iranian theater or perhaps more correctly Tehran theater is divided into three parts at the moment we are in. The part that has become bolder now and includes comedies that are more ridiculous than before and in the name of making the audience laugh, they do with the theater what Alexander did with Persepolis. A lot of sexual jokes, dancing and laughing in the lowest form are the main features of all these shows. Of course, we are not talking about the shows that we know as free theater, we are talking about the shows that are staged in public and private theaters, and this is what makes the story dangerous: the transmission of the tone and form of free theaters to the official theater, which is supposed to raise questions, comedic or non-comedic, and make the audience think. The other part of today's theater includes what is called fancy theater and concert theater and tries to attract the audience with expensive tickets and famous actors. In the meantime, of course, there are shows where women are still trying to remain honorable and productive in this chaos.

We talked about the state of the theater these days with Rahmat Amini, a university professor and theater director.

In your opinion, what is the position of the independent today? A theater that doesn't want to attract the audience with games and different tricks?

If we want to review the post-revolution period to answer the question of why the independent theater has fallen to this day, because it is not a happy day, various reasons can be found for it. Before that, of course, I must explain that I believe in the presence of all kinds of tastes, thoughts, types and models of theater. In Iran, we used to have shows called Lalezari since years ago. Later, they gave it an anonymous name called Azad, which was performed in cinemas like Golriz.

Of course, Lalehzar was the first scientific and new theater in Iran and later became an attraction. Do you mean the Lalezari Theater of the same period after 2032?

yes After the revolution, free theaters were also performed in Golriz and Damavand cinema, etc., which I have named night comedy. It is officially known by the same name in the performing arts center. Because these comedies usually start at nine o'clock at night and continue until midnight. This type of theater is very clear. The group is just here to laugh and all its financial mechanisms are on its own, from renting the hall to actors and advertising. It also has a significant financial turnover. Another model of theater happened when private theaters were formed, in which we now have comedy. These shows are similar to night comedy in terms of economic structures, but they are not necessarily comedies. In my opinion, there is a third model. Until 20 years ago, he supported and produced the government's own theater, which was performed in government theaters such as Shahr and Molvi theaters. They signed a contract and paid the director and the crew. About two decades ago, this type of theater gradually disappeared. This is the theater you are talking about. That is, a theater where the director and executive team were not worried about the box office. Unfortunately, this theater in Tehran has been destroyed. Now, the only shadow left of this theater is that, for example, the director performs in the city theater and no longer pays for the hall rent. But he should think for the audience and his decor. This situation has caused the thinker's theater to go to the sidelines. It has happened that we see an actor working in the city theater who is placed next to an actor with 23 years of experience only because of his fame and celebrity. Because the audience should see the work anyway. There is also a phenomenon called producer, which is actually actor-oriented. This is a perspective of the state of the theater.

The worrisome issue is that now in official theaters, shows are staged that are exactly like free comedies or, as you say, night comedies.

yes In my opinion, this night comedy has opened to official theaters as well. The reason is that the salon manager himself asks if you can sell. Can you fill this many seats? Now, even the city theater puts a letter of commitment in front of the director and says that after 10 or 20 days, if the theater is empty, the performance will be over. Of course, this is the previous one. I do not know about the new mechanism. The last time I performed Susmar's show in Shahr Theater, they also took a check from me, so if you lose, this check is with us. It hit me hard. Although they said it was a formality, but it had one meaning anyway, which means that you should sell it somehow, Mr. Amini. Now, for example, I want to have an actor who is a capable actor in my work and I know that he is capable in that role. But he has no fame and it is not possible for the audience to come because of him. Therefore, I have to bring an actor with several lower levels.

Another thing that has happened is that the theater audience is changing. Until, for example, ten years ago, we had an audience that really came to see the theater. Now a large part of the audience comes to see the actor up close. Behaviors have become strange and it seems as if the real theater audience does not exist anymore. do you agree

Part of this story is related to the municipality. I stayed in France for 6 months and when I did field research, I realized that the most important supporters of the theater, as you say, are the idea-oriented municipalities. I don't have any kind of criticism, but the mayor has both the physics of the city in his hands and works hard and spends money for it, and aesthetics and efforts to improve the citizens' psyche are among his duties. This is done in all the municipalities of the world. Some work has been done on mural painting, but in the field of theater, it only has the Iranshahr Hall, which is now suffering from the damage we talked about. If I were the mayor, I would make arrangements for theater organizations like Iranshahr and Tehran Theater Campus, which are under the supervision of the municipality, to do their best to produce powerful and thought-provoking theater with various supports for different people from the young to the veterans. Iranshahr Theater can sell tickets as a subscription. It means to offer his ticket with a 40% discount during one year. Radio and television can be very effective in strengthening the theater, but it has not done anything for the theater in these years. The field of art, which has progressed in a crooked way, has not created a revolution-level theater as much as it wanted, nor has it been able to be successful in a theater that attracts audiences.

If you want to make a comparison between the theater of the 70s and 80s and today, what would you say?

Even the people of that time have changed with now. We had the likes of Rahmanian, whose every performance was a coincidence or an oval. Of course, we still had a lot of problems. But again, since the director had less worries, he could do a good job. Later, Mr. Rahmanian himself had to stage works to earn money. Anyone who could not support himself economically, failed and was left out of the circle, and those who were able to pay the ransom were successful. Of course, we should not forget another group of shows that are running now and receive such budgets.

I really say something from the bottom of my heart. With all these injuries and characteristics that I have mentioned, especially the young and university children of the theater are doing their best and we are seeing the glimmers of them always finding paths for artistic theater from these disorders.