TEHRAN -- An Iranian theater troupe plans to blend Shakespeare’s Macbeth with a local Iranian rite for the Festival d’Avignon, which will take place in southeastern France from July 6 to 26.

The Teetovak Theater Group, which is led by director Ebrahim Poshtkuhi, will perform “Hey Macbeth, Only the First Dog Knows Why It Is Barking” for two weeks during the festival.
The Zar rite, commonplace in southern Iran, will be mixed with the Macbeth in the musical comedy.
Zar is a legacy from slavery as it was performed by African slaves who were brought to southern Iran. They performed it on weekends in order to gain energy to enable them to bear the burden of bondage for the rest of the week. Over time, ordinary people also joined in their musical rite comprising ecstatic dance with dammam (tom-tom) playing.
Today, Zar is mostly performed by workers in a group named ahl-e hava, which is conducted by a leader called a babazari.
In “Hey Macbeth, Only the First Dog Knows Why It Is Barking”, Macbeth commits a crime to join an ahl-e hava to become a babazari.
A fusion of African, Indian and southern Iranian music has been composed by Reza Abbaspur for the play.
“The festival has previously hosted other Iranian troupes with plays which were quite similar in their forms,” Poshtkuhi told the Persian service of ISNA on Saturday.
“Our play has its origins in the legends and rituals of southern Iran, which I hope will show a different image of Iranian theater during the festival,” he added.
The Iranian plays “The Mute Who Was Dreaming” “Revelation on a Silent Party”, “The City without the Sky” and “6 Minutes and 36 Birthday Cakes” were staged by directors Atila Pesyani, Reza Haddad, Kiumars Moradi and Siamak Ehsaii during the last year’s Avignon festival.
“Hey Macbeth” won the award of the New Experience Section at the 28th Tehran International Theater Festival in January 2009.
In addition, it was warmly received by theatergoers during its premiere at the City Theater in Tehran in August 2010.
Photo: A member of the Teetovak Theater Group performs in a scene from “Hey Macbeth, Only the First Dog Knows Why It Is Barking” in undated photo. (Photo by Hassan Bardal)