TEHRAN – The organizers of the 16th Mobarak International Puppet Theater Festival has announced a lineup of seven plays from different countries to go on stage during the event in Tehran.

The foreign plays will be competing in the international section of the festival running from August 22 to 28, the Center for Dramatic Arts has announced on its website.

“Extraordinary Voyage”, a puppet show by the German company of Russian roots named “The Fifth Wheel”, is among the competing plays. 

“Extraordinary Voyage” is a combination of humor, music and dance from all over the world. It consists of numerous marionette acts such as Arabs, Flamenco, Gypsies, Mexicans and Indians. The performance is light, funny, with excellent puppets, solid rhythm and very good style with no text.

Japanese puppeteer Nori Sawa will present the famous legend of “The Pied Piper” with the shadow puppet theater and music performed by the Japanese musicians.

Selected by the Cultural Ministry of the Japanese Government, Nori Sawa started his professional career in Europe in 1992,. He now lives in Prague and often travels between Japan and the Czech Republic.

“The Writer”, a co-production of Ulrike Quade Company (Amsterdam), Jo Stromgren Kompani (Oslo) and the Nordland Visual Theater (Stamsund), is another highlight of the festival.

Also included is “Shirin” by Kaveh Ayreek, an Afghan mime artist, writer, director and actor currently residing in Kabul. His dream is to bring some relief to his post-war society, and help relieve their traumas of war through his art. “Shirin” meaning sweet in Farsi is one of the many plays he has written. 

A total of 27 Iranian plays will go on stage at the national section of the festival.

RM/YAW