TEHRAN-After touring nine cities worldwide and garnering numerous awards, the Titovak Theater Troupe from Iran is set to perform its acclaimed production “Macbeth of Zar” at Tehran’s Homa Theater Hall. 

Following successful performances in nine cities across the world and recognition at prestigious festivals, the play, written and directed by Ebrahim Poshtkuhi, will return to the stage in September.

The production has previously been showcased at renowned international festivals in Munich, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Shaki, Baku, Yerevan, Budapest, Baghdad, and Noyabrsk. After a successful run at the main hall of Tehran’s City Theater Complex, it was also featured at the Shakespeare International Festival in Germany.

The piece has also been invited to festivals in Avignon and Verona.

In this play, Poshtkuhi blends Macbeth with Zar, a rite commonplace in southern Iran, in the musical comedy.

“Macbeth of Zar” offers a novel fusion of the ancient Zar ritual and William Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy "Macbeth," utilizing diverse theatrical forms such as Kabuki, Kathakali, Commedia dell'arte, and grounded in Meyerhold Biomechanics Theory. The production reimagines Macbeth's story set on Hormuz Island, where he becomes embroiled in a fateful struggle to transform into the "Great Zar Father."

Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's finest plays, and presents a man's conscience and the effect of guilt on his mind. A dark and bloody play, Macbeth explores reality and illusion; witchcraft and the supernatural; ambition and kingship; the natural order; light and life, darkness and death; blood and dead babies.

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 this play, Scottish general Macbeth commits a crime to join an ahl-e hava to become a babazari.

It was previously staged in Iran under the title of “Hey Macbeth, Only the First Dog Knows Why It Is Barking”.

The troupe performed the play at the 41st Fajr International Theater Festival in Tehran in 2023. The play brought Poshtkuhi an honorable mention in the best play category. In addition, musician Behrang Abbasi won the award for best composer for his collaboration in this play.

“Macbeth of Zar” was invited to the International Theatre Festival Rainbow in St. Petersburg, Russia after that festival’s director saw it at the Fajr festival.

“Although the [St. Petersburg] festival is a non-competitive event, our play was awarded a trophy from the festival on the closing day,” the director announced.

SAB/