TEHRAN (Mehr News Agency) -- The Fifth Iranian International Theater Festival will kick off on December 6 in Ahwaz, director general of the Ahwaz Office of Culture and Islamic Guidance announced on Sunday.

The dramas staged in the festival are usually based on the ancient plays of participating countries.

The nine-member selection board including Mahmoud Azizi, Qotb ud-Din Sadeqi, Mahdi Pour-Rezaeian, Abd ul-Hay Shamasi, Mahmoud Farhang, Rahmat Amin, Hossein Razi, Saeid Asadi, and Mehrdad Rayani Makhsous has chosen nine Iranian and seven foreign plays for the 6-day long festival.

“Birds” (France), “Visit” (Kazakhstan), “Begum Jan” (India), “Formal Manner” (Armenia), “Ayatlar” (Azerbaijan), “Rooster,” and “The Little Scientist” (Syria) are the foreign plays to be staged in the festival.