TEHRAN -- An adaptation of Eugène Ionesco’s “Rhinoceros” was the most popular play of the year in Tehran, based on ticket sales.

A total of 25,674 tickets were sold for 43 performances of the play, directed by Farhad Aiish, the Persian service of MNA reported on Friday.
He hired Iranian movie stars such as Shahab Hosseini and Ateneh Faqih-Nasiri to guarantee success at the box office.
“It is not uncommon for movie stars (in Iran) to act in a play and so, I’m announcing that I’m using them for success at the box office and I’m really not afraid to admit that,” Aiish confided in a press conference in November of 2008 before the play premiered at the City Theater.
“Hassan and the Ghoul of Narrow Road behind the Mountain”, on a fairy tale, stands second.
A total 4801 came to Tehran’s theaters for the play directed by Afshin Hashemi.
Amir Atashani’s “Khanjareha,” on a tazieh actor facing a dilemma, was last in the rankings. Only 390 tickets were sold for the play that was staged during the last month of the Iranian calendar year.
Tehran’s theaters hosted 41 plays during the last year.
Photo: Shahab Hosseini in a scene of “Rhinoceros”