05 — 07.05, 09.05.2004
Amir Reza Koohestani / Mehr Theatre Group Tehran
Dance On Glasses
theatre — premiere
Farsi → NL, FR | ⧖ 1h10
The man and woman are seated, each at the far end of a table four metres or so long. Spectators in the audience sit facing one another listening to them.They are just talking. He keeps asking, Are you afraid when you dance on the glasses? The more he hassles her the more she withdraws; the more he tries to trap her the more she runs away. Dance on glasses is the third play by Amir Reza Koohestani (Shiraz, born 1978). His writing is new, vivid and sharp: passion for giving everything hides the desire to control it all; persistent refusal reveals the hunger to be free. Even if it means getting lost. It might be an Iranian story, but the battle is universal.
Shiraz, March 2004
Three years have gone by since I wrote Dance on Glasses. Three years: three months of writing, six months of rehearsals and around a hundred performances. After all that time, here I am again, sitting at the table in the same room where the first rehearsal took place, writing a note about this play.
Dance on Glasses was the fruit of my theatrical ambition. Its long silences, its stiff portrayals and the darkness in the first scene were as strange to a theatre still used to the worn-out realism of the 19th century as Farsi is in your own country. I remember the fear I felt when, through the tinted windows of the technical box, I saw Dance on Glasses being performed before an audience for the first time. The fear burning my blood as it coursed through my veins rose to heat my brain. My hand was shaking when I operated the light switch as my hoarse voice encouraged the actors: “Everything will be fine, it’s going to be a success.” For me, it is this very uncertainty of the result that gives theatre its sweetness. I didn’t know if it would work or not. It was a lie we were used to in order to hide our weakness and our lack of faith in what we were doing.
In part Dance on Glasses contains my own memories. In my mind the characters had other names, the room was different, there was no table or dancing. All that was in the room was silence and darkness: the silence of someone lying in the dark unable to sleep, saying nothing, devoid of any thought and just staring into the gloom. Only the tap lets water escape. I remember the suffering experienced through so many words and dialogues that simply turned pages black and deceived silence.
When I break the silence like this, all that I have left is a feeling of regret and failure. Silently I was protesting and angry, not understanding the stale and shabby words of other people, finding myself invaded by a new vocabulary, which would build tomorrow’s world. But as soon as I open my mouth, the words that pour out are cold and devoid of meaning. Because they are like the well-worn ones I heard as a child coming from my parents’ mouths, and I didn’t want them. My own words gave me neither perspectives nor friends. They simply preserved what little I had. I can only use them to ask for a Pepsi or say goodnight to my plant before going to bed again to stare into the darkness for another night, worn out, devoid of any feelings with the tap still dripping.
Amir Reza Koohestani
Shiraz, winter 1382*/2004
* The Iranian solar year
Auteur en regie/Auteur et metteur en scène/Playwright and Director: Amir Reza Koohestani
Choregrafie/Chorégraphie/Choregraphy : Ehsan Hemmat, Sara Reyhani
Met/Avec/With: Ali Moini, Sharare Mansourabadi
Dans/Danseuse/Dancer : Sara Reyhani
Decor-, licht- & geluidontwerp/Décor, éclairage & son/ Stage, Light & Sound Designer: Amir Reza Koohestani
Dans trainer & decor/Entraîneur danse & décorateur/Dance Trainer & Designer: Ehsan Hemmat
Kostuumontwerper & make-up/Concepteur des costumes & maquillage/Costume Designer & Make-up: Ali Moini, Sharare Mansourabadi
Muziek selectie/Sélection de la musique/Music Selection: Amir Reza Koohestani, Ehsan Hemmat
Muziek/Musique/Music: "Host Of Serphim" By: "Dead Can Dance"
"Orion" By: "Metallica"
"Thousand Years" By: "Stings"
Vocaal schrijven & vocalist/Composition vocale & vocaliste/Vocal Compose & Vocalist: Ali Moini
Directeur van klank technologie/Directeur technologie son/Director Of Sound Technology: Mahin Sadri
Directeur van licht technologie/Directeur de la technologie lumière/Director Of Light Technology: Sasan Riasatian
Productieleiding/Directeur de la production/Production Manager: Reza Hoseinipour
Hoofdproducent & met de steun van/Producteur principal & avec le soutien de/Main Producer & Supported by : Iran Dramatical Arts Center
Presentatie/Présentation/Presentation : KunstenFESTIVALdesArts
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