TEHRAN -- The Iranian puppet show troupe Aran has had to cancel its trip to the Ukraine to participate in a festival due to a shortage of funds.

The troupe was to have given a performance of an opera puppet show based on “Rustam and Sohrab”, a story from Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, during the opening ceremony of the event. The gala is to be held in the autumn to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Kiev Puppet Theater.
“Performing the opera puppet show could have been a pleasant experience for Iranian puppeteers, and it’s a sorry state of affairs that we have had to cancel the trip for lack of funds. It is most regrettable that the troupe will be unable to gain the sense of achievement that comes from performing at an international level,” director Behruz Gharibpur told the Persian service of ISNA on Friday.
Gharibpur has himself made every effort possible to raise funds for the trip.
“Our attempts to meet the expenses of this project were fruitless and it’s a great pity that the names of Ferdowsi and Iran will not be featuring in this prestigious event for want of the sum of between 150 and 200 million rials (about $15,500 to $21,000),” he said.
Gharibpur compared the low budget allocated by the Iranian government for cultural activities with the much larger budget for sports and said, “I would cry if I were in the position of the cultural officials.”
Gharibpur, former director of the Iranian Artists Forum, quit the job in July following criticisms of his office’s arrangement of certain events highlighting Iranian and foreign scholars and intellectuals.
He is currently performing the opera puppet show “Macbeth” at Tehran’s Ferdowsi Hall.
The troupe has been invited to give performances in many countries, but Gharibpur said that he has been hesitant to accept.