TEHRAN – The 2003 play by Lebanese-Canadian writer Wajdi Mouawad titled “Incendies” is on stage at the City Theater in Tehran. 

Morteza Mirmontazami has directed the 1205-minute play, which has Setareh Pesyani, Abbas Jamali, Rima Raminfar, Reza Behboudi, Alireza Jafari, Farnoush Nikandish, and Bahram Ebrahimi in the cast, among others, IRNA reported.

“Incendies” follows the journey of twins Jeanne and Simon, as they attempt to unravel the mystery of their mother's life. When Jeanne and Simon Marwan lose their mother, Nawal, they are instead left with a difficult mission that sends them on a journey to the Middle East in pursuit of their tangled roots and a long-lost brother.

The play has been produced all over the world, including the United States, Brazil, Austria, Germany, Mexico, Spain and Australia, and the 2007 production at the Tarragon Theater in Toronto won several awards. The Vienna Burgtheater assigned Stefan Bachmann to the stage production. It subsequently received much praise from critics, winning the "Nestroy Award" in 2007.

“Incendies” was adapted into a 2010 film of the same title by Denis Villeneuve, starring Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette, and Lubna Azabal. It was nominated for the 2011 Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category, and won the Genie Award for Best Motion Picture at the 31st Genie Awards.

Born in Lebanon in 1968, Wajdi Mouawad was forced to leave his homeland at the age of eight due to the civil war. This marked the beginning of a period of exile that first took him and his family to Paris. He was forced to leave this adopted homeland in 1983, as the French state refused to grant him the necessary documents to remain in the country. From France, he moved to Quebec, where he pursued his studies and graduated in 1991 with a degree in acting from the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal. 

In 2000, he was invited to become the artistic director of Théâtre de Quat'Sous in Montreal for four seasons. Five years later, he founded the theatre companies Abé Carré Cé Carré with Emmanuel Schwartz in Quebec and Au Carré de l'Hypoténuse in France.

Since September 2007, he has been the artistic director of the French Theatre at the National Arts Center in Ottawa and, concurrently, in January 2008, partnered with his French company at Espace Malraux, the national stage in Chambéry and Savoie.

SS/SAB