TEHRAN – Shahrzad Theater Complex in Tehran is hosting the third round of the performance of the play “Out at Sea” written by Polish dramatist Slawomir Mrozek.

Morvarid Afsari is the director of the 50-minute play. She also performs in it along with Nima Morshedi, Mahshid Sadri, Mohammad Ouraki, Rake Balaei, Reza Eslami, and Hamid Esparham, Mehr reported. 

The single-set black comedy is an absurdist tale of survival and democratic decision-making. It traces the fortunes of three very different castaways starving on a life raft, who attempt to find a democratic way of deciding which of them shall be eaten by the other two. One is thin, one is medium, and one is fat. 

The arguments become steadily more outlandish, the bullying and sycophancy more intense, until the intervention of a passing postman and an old manservant takes the play into a hilarious, surreal overdrive, building to a chilling climax.

“Out at Sea” was written in 1960s censorship-ridden Poland. Satirist Sławomir Mrozek was forced to find many unusual angles with which to carry his biting comments against the Soviet regime. One of his regular techniques was to write absurd comedic plays that carried a dark message beneath the laughter. Perhaps his finest one-act effort is the little-known “Out at Sea”. 

Slawomir Mrozek (1930-2013) was a Polish dramatist, writer, and cartoonist. He joined the Polish United Workers' Party during the reign of Stalinism in the People's Republic of Poland and made a living as a political journalist. He began writing plays in the late 1950s. His theatrical works belong to the genre of absurdist fiction, intended to shock the audience with non-realistic elements, political and historical references, distortion, and parody.

The play will remain on stage until November 21 at the Shahrzad Theater Complex located at No. 74, Neauphle-le-Château St., Hafez St.

SS/