TEHRAN -- Hamid Samandarian, Iranian stage director of Swiss author and dramatist Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s play “The Old Lady’s Visit” believes that this is a comedy that provokes thought.

The play which is currently being staged at Tehran’s City Theater Complex was reviewed with the participation of the director and several members of the cast in a session held at the venue of Mehr News Agency on Friday.
Samandarian talked about the play and Dürrenmatt’s works, saying, “I think dramatic literature must engage itself with man’s problems and present new solutions by transforming them into dramas. Viewers find tragedy in Dürrenmatt’s works but laugh at it out of misery.
He continued, “Dürrenmatt (1921-1990) is not unique, but he was very in tune with drama and disagreed with falling back on old traditions. He concentrated on dramatic aspects in his works – plays with which I became familiar when I was studying at university in Germany. I think a dramatist is functional when he portrays the good and bad aspects of the society fearlessly, and Dürrenmatt was this type of artist.
“Dürrenmatt was labeled a melancholic writer in Germany, and some renowned analysts believe him to have been an author who was able to portray anti-human events without fear. When I was studying his works, I also found out that Dürrenmatt was very strict and daring, and he was candid when narrating the truth,” Samandarian explained.
With reference to the fact that an individual bears all good and bad points within his being, he remarked, “One can hardly find the opportunities in life to apply all the hidden characteristics within oneself and this may happen only when forced by life. Dürrenmatt relentlessly depicted man perfectly in all possible situations and that is why some of his colleagues opposed his opinions and works.”
He emphasized, “During my studies I figured out that Dürrenmatt portrayed the most expressive form of evolution of mankind in his plays “Play Strindberg”, “The Old Lady’s Visit”, “The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi” and “The Flat Tire”. In the eyes of Dürrenmatt, there was no absolute tragedy. Society commits crimes and no one feels guilty -- therefore, there is no tragedy in its absolute meaning – what is left over is only tragic laughter aroused by feelings of anger and unhappiness.”
Samandarian who had previously staged “The Old Lady’s Visit” in 1972, talked about his outlook on the play, saying, “I was focusing on the forces I observed in the play in those years, when after a passage of time, in a phone conversation with Dürrenmatt, he told me that poverty is a power which collapses like debris on the ground. I had been pondering on the theme of greediness, but Dürrenmatt did not agree with me, saying that one can banish greediness in the manner of the Iranian dervishes, but poverty is rooted somewhere else and one cannot prevent its collapse.”
Director Samandarian also made the point that the young generation in the days of Dürrenmatt did no like him and observed, “Young people were not fond of Dürrenmatt because he used to portray all the problems he observed in his country, adding, the youth at that time believed that life is full of despair and that drama must have a positive outlook and give hope to its audiences. However, Dürrenmatt was not of this opinion, but rather believed people should know themselves and find out how they behave under varying circumstances.”
He continued, “There are 24 kinds of comedy, each of which looks at life from a different angle. Some comedies are not humorous but are frightening instead. Dürrenmatt’s comedy is not humorous like our comedy. It is thought-provoking.
“The meaning of timelessness in a drama means that viewers watching it in any country and at any historical time are able to understand it. One cannot limit man since he carries variety within himself. One must see man in motion, and the performers of a drama can create changes in each drama through their language and make use of it in their society.”
He also discussed his opinion about the style of realism in drama and said, “Theater is a method whereby one can depict an event in a compressed way. Condensing does not entail deleting the truth, but rather strengthening the reality. This is what is observed in expressionistic theater.
“Art is art when it goes through a creative filter. Expressionists believe that if they combine reality with the artistic aspect of the reality, then its artistry will run ahead. One of the problems of our young theatrical generation is that they do a job without knowing its primary tools. Literature must get moving and must represent proper analysis to help narrate realities and the truth,” Samandarian concluded.
Caption: Director Hamid Samandarian (front) and a member of his troupe, Gohar Kheirandish, attend a review session held at the Mehr News Agency on March 1 for “The Old Lady’s Visit”, which is currently on stage at Tehran’s City Theater. (Mehr/Ahmad Motallaii)