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| Purahmad stages Qajar era story in theatrical debut |
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 TEHRAN - Iranian filmmaker Kiumars Purahmad is trying his hand at directing a play, which is about a wife of a Qajar king.Written by Asghar Abdollahi, “Khordeh Khanom” began its premiere at Tehran’s Iranshahr Theater on Saturday. The play is about a wife of Nasser ad-Din Shah (1831–1896), Khordeh Khanom and her odalisque, who were expelled from the shah’s harem after he was killed in an assassination. They are housed at the home of a top military official, who has been cast out by the shah. Khordeh Khanom falls in love with Mirza, a retainer of the military official’s family. “After reading the play ‘Khordeh Khanom’, which Asghar Abdollahi has written with feelings from his own heart, I realized that I had found that for which I had been searching for years,” Purahmad told the Persian service of ISNA on Friday. “Over my career in cinema, I have been looking for an opportunity to try my hand at staging a performance, but all the plays I had read were almost impossible to be performed,” he added. “Staging a play is very difficult. I am very punctilious professionally in cinema. I control everything from casting to stage and costume design and even lighting. Everything is under the control of a director in a film, but it is not so in a theatrical performance and half of the performance depends on the actors and their moods,” Purahmad explained. Purahmad described Golab Adineh as one of his lucky charms for the play. She plays the leading role of the odalisque, “Her background in theater is more extensive than mine is in cinema,” said 62-year-old Purahmad, who has directed over 15 films and TV series. Actor and director Bahram Tashakkor works as the assistant director in “Khordeh Khanom”. “My assistant, who is a stage director himself, is my other lucky charm. If these two persons were not beside me, I wouldn’t know how the play would move or in what direction,” Purahmad stated. Scenes from the TV series “The Sultan of Sahebqaran”, directed by Ali Hatami in 1976, are shown during the performance. “The TV series is connected with our play and we will acknowledge our debt to Ali Hatami by screening a few scenes from the serial,” Purahmad said.   Socialize this Subscribe to our RSS feed to stay in touch and receive all of TT updates right in your feed reader
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