TEHRAN – Simorgh Theater in Tehran will host the play “The Lie” written by the French novelist and playwright Florian Zeller for five days.

Mohamad Ghavam is the director and producer of the 80-minute play and also performs in it along with Donya Bakhtiari, Fatemeh Zarei, and Amirali Taran. The play will be performed from September 1 to 5.

In “The Lie,” a companion piece to Zeller’s earlier play “The Truth,” a married couple has invited another married couple to dinner. They are best friends. But things get complicated because the hostess believes she has spotted her friend’s husband kissing another woman in the street. She wants to cancel the dinner party because she feels she must tell her friend the truth. But her husband tries to convince her that in life it is sometimes necessary to tell a lie or hide the truth as a sign of love and tact, and that there is no point in getting involved in the lives of others. 

This ethical moral dilemma soon evolves into a wild labyrinth of deceits, truths, and lies, in which no one knows anymore who is cheating on whom and with whom, and whether all four are actually faithful or unfaithful. The latter does not matter anymore. What really matters is the trust a person loses when one catches their loved one lying. This is why the play is resolved reassuringly: both couples decide to re-establish mutual trust despite possibly divergent facts, since they have realized that to insist on the truth could lead to a total war. Or, in the words of one of the protagonists, if everyone told everyone the truth, no one in this world would talk to anyone anymore.

“The Lie” received its English language world premiere at the Menier Chocolate Factory, London, in September 2017.

Zeller, 44, is a French novelist, playwright, theater director, screenwriter, and film director. He has written over a dozen plays that have been staged worldwide and have made him one of the most celebrated contemporary playwrights.

His work has been translated into a dozen languages, including English and Persian. He won the Prix Interallié in 2004 for his novel “Fascination of Evil”.

Zeller has won the most prestigious French and international playwriting awards, including the Molière Award and the Laurence Olivier Award.

In his plays, Zeller tackles the theme of lies and truth. Most often, he tries to resolve the eternal dilemma within one’s family circle that is believed to be most open and receptive in embracing the truth. However, it often transpires that one’s family tends to be subjected to lies and deception. In today’s world, people are inundated by fake news spread deliberately by social networks allowing individuals to achieve political goals and gain social influence. The truth is becoming increasingly relative, not only in the metaphysical, Rashomon-like sense, but objectively too: facts are being falsified, and lies are being circulated.

Zeller’s plays have always been regarded by Iranian directors. Celebrated theater director Arvand Dashtaray staged Zeller’s acclaimed psychological drama “The Father” in 2022 with renowned actors including Reza Kainian, Leili Rashidi, Saeid Changizian, Sogol Khaliq, Behzad Karimi, Najva Sahebazzamani, and Dutch actress Marene van Holk, who is Dashtaray’s wife.

Starring Pantea Bahram and Pejman Jamshidi, Zeller’s play “The Mother” was also performed at Tehran’s Iranshahr Theater Complex in 2019.

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