A Theatre collaboration between Boston and Tehran

Two New Plays From Iran:

“CREATURES”

Written by Mohammad Rezaee-Rad

Translated and directed by Vahdat Yeganeh

Dramaturge: Dr. Robert Lublin

Cast: Lorna Nogueira, Jared Wright, (X.Y. from Iran)

Music Director: Phil Mantis

Art works by Philippe Lejeune, Laurent Lejeune

Production manager in Iran: Afshin Hashemi

Produced by Pezhman Tahavori and Vahdat Yeganeh

The Touch Art Gallery- September 12-22, 2013

Date: September 12, 13, 14 15, 19, 20, 21 & 22

Time: 7:30 PM

Location: Touch Art Gallery, 281 Concord Ave, Cambridge MA 02138

A note from the artistic director:

The desire for communication and sharing has been the fundamental impulse for men to create art and language. Theatre, from the beginning, has been the most intimate form of art that requires the participation of artists and spectators alike. At Boston Experimental Theatre (B.E.T.), I’ve been studying Antonin Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty and Jerzy Grotowski’s Poor Theatre in an effort to create an environment in which both artists and spectators alike can connect to their dreams and emotions at their deepest level. As an Iranian artist living and working in the United States since 2002, one of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that my cultural dialogue with my American colleagues has a significant impact on the quality of my productions.   Although, I have been very disappointed to learn that many other Iranians and Americans do not have this great opportunity of cultural exchange.

Living in an era when misunderstanding and intolerance has created increased violence, I feel a responsibility to share my own experiences of dialogue among cultures.  Since arriving in the United States of America, Dr. Dariush Shayegan’s philosophy of ‘Dialogue Among Civilizations’ has informed my way of living in this new home and helped me to recognize how important it is for 21st century citizens to understand and feel the desire of intimate dialogue. Art or War, the intimate dialogue is inevitable.

Creating cultural dialogue between Boston and Tehran is a new dream of the Boston Experimental Theatre in collaboration with the Touch Art Gallery and Iranian journalist Mr. Pezhman Tahavori. Our upcoming production,CREATURES, is B.E.T.’s adaptation of two plays written by well-known Iranian playwright Mohammad Rezaee-Rad (currently living in Tehran), and will be produced with a multi-cultural group of artists and actors from Boston and Tehran. The goal of producing this psychological play is to foster a meaningful experience of communication between the artists and the audience, so that every one involved can honestly explore feelings held captive in the body and the unconscious. Such emotions are ordinarily ignored and eclipsed by social habits, fear, and distraction, but the unique quality of theatre allows for a public space to explore them. I do believe theatre is not theatre until a unique relationship happens between the stage and the audience (YOU!). Because of this fact we rely on our audience and appreciate your honesty so that we may continue forward. Please feel free to offer your candid and unfiltered opinions, no matter how ‘cruel’.

Vahdat Yeganeh

B.E.T. Artistic Director