TEHRAN – Celebrated Iranian stage director Mohammad Rahmanian is holding a series of workshops that focus on the growing phenomenon of selfie photography that has become an irritating habit in Iran.

The first session of the workshops titled “Twenty Short Performances about Selfie” was held at Tehran’s Aftab Theater on Thursday, the organizers announced in a press release on Friday.

“Theater cannot cause a decline in social problems,” he told the Persian service of IRNA on Friday. “However, it can remind the relevant officials about them.”  

“Addiction, unemployment and poverty are our main social problems and it is theater’s responsibility to bring the problems into the public eye,” he mentioned. 

A cast of 24 actors has been selected from the acting classes held by Rahmanian and his wife, Mahtab Nasirpur, for the plays being performed during the workshops.

Padideh Jamalha, Alireza Fuladshekan, Mehran Nasirpur and Mahmud Zohrevand are in a group of directors contributing to these workshops.

Rahmanian is mostly famous for staging plays that give a real insight into Iranian society in various periods of time.

He staged “My Cinemas” in four episodes at Tehran’s Charsu Theater Complex during spring 2015. The play reviewed the history of Iranian cinema and the condition of some movie theaters in Tehran over the past 50 years.

Last week, he was honored for his “The Horses” with an Ostad-Mohammad Medallion that is presented to works promoting Iranian cultural elements.

Photo: Writer/director Mohammad Rahmanian holds an Ostad-Mohammad Medallion that he received for his play “The Horses” at Tehran’s City Theater Complex on Jan. 7, 2017. (Mehr/Masud Saki)

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