TEHRAN – “Three Sisters and Others” by writer/director Hamid Amjad and “The Horses” by writer/director Mohammad Rahmanian have won Ostad-Mohammad Medallions during the second edition of the honor that is presented to works promoting Iranian cultural elements.

Amjad wrote the play based Anton Chekhov’s “Three Sisters” and receive the medallion in the adaptation section during a special ceremony at Tehran’s City Theater Complex on Saturday night. He staged the play at the complex for two months last summer.

“The Horses” was honored in the original play section. The play tells the story of a groom who lives with his horses near Karbala in 680 when Imam Hussein (AS) and his companions were martyred. The groom knows the language of his horses and quotes stories from them about their riders.

“We should not make any changes in the plays by great writers to stage them,” Rahmanian said after accepting his medallion from veteran actor Esmaeil Khalaj. “We are only allowed to rewrite them for performance.”

The medallion to honor playwrights was established by the Ostad-Mohammad Foundation, which was set up in 2014 by friends and family of prominent playwright and director Mahmud Ostad-Mohammad a year after his death.

Writer/director Hamid Amjad (L) accepts the Ostad-Mohammad Medallion from director Masud Jafar-Jozani for his play “Three Sisters and Others” at Tehran’s City Theater Complex on Jan. 7, 2017. Screenwriter Farhad Tohidi is also seen in the photo. (Mehr/Masud Saki) 

he organizers also honored 65-year-old playwright Farideh Farjam who is considered as Iran’s first female modern dramatist.

In a short speech, veteran documentary filmmaker praised librarian Sima Ravai who works at the library of the City Theater Complex and said, “Seventy to a hundred plays are being performed at the theaters of Tehran every night.”  

“This should be considered as a movement and an awakening because theater is the real image of our nations,” he added. 

The ceremony came to an end with a performance of Ostad-Mohammad’s musical “The Theatric Divan” by director Ruzbeh Hosseini’s troupe.

The play will run at Sangelaj Theater through Jan. 19.

The first edition of the Ostad-Mohammad Medallion was held in December 2015.

Photo: Writer/director Mohammad Rahmanian (R) receives the Ostad-Mohammad Medallion from actor Esmaeil Khalaj for his play “The Horses” at Tehran’s City Theater Complex on Jan. 7, 2017. Actor Asghar Hemmat is also seen in the photo. (Mehr/Masud Saki) MMS/YAW