TEHRAN -- Director of the Center for Dramatic Arts, Hossein Parsaii attended a press conference on Tuesday in which he gave some details on the ups and downs of Iran’s theater over the past year.

He first referred to the effect of these ups and downs on the management of the center, adding, “I accepted the task of managing the center at a time when many good things were halted due to changes in management.”
He went on to say, “I first invited veteran theatrical figures and then made use of the achievements of previous managers.”
On the bylaw related to actors’ payment proposed by the Actors’ Association of the Iranian Theater Forum, he explained, “Several meetings were held with the managers of the Actors’ Association and Iranian Theater Forum and it was decided to assign the payments in the six artistic courses.
“The Center for Dramatic Arts is also planning to oblige all the artistic groups to hire production managers. The managers will be signing agreements with all the cast and crew of each play,” he remarked.
Parsaii also talked about recent events in which the City Theater Complex was threatened by a recent excavation at the site, adding, “Tehran’s Municipality was supposed to repair the wall attached to Qashqaii Hall, but it has not accomplished this as yet.”
On the recent project of the theater’s four seasons, he said, “The project was aimed at discovering new talents and bringing back confidence to artists from smaller towns. There was also an opportunity for young artists to meet theatrical professionals in Tehran.”
He also announced that the center is planning to establish a private theater center in the coming year, adding, “We are ready to hold private workshops, distribute theatrical productions all across Tehran. We also intend to privatize the costume and stage workshop.”
Managing director of the Association of Dramatic Arts Hossein Razi also attending the conference and gave a brief explanation about the activities of the association, saying, “The association is focusing on the theatrical activities in the cities this year. We also mean to increase the productions. The association has signed an agreement with the Center for Dramatic Arts in the summer and will work as the administrator of the projects.
“The association has also established branches in the cities and has signed several agreements for different plays to go on stage,” he concluded.
At the end of the conference, Iran’s theatrical calendar compiled by Akbar Abdolalizadeh was unveiled.