The Titobac Theatre Company from Tehran, which has toured nine cities around the world and has won numerous awards, will perform the highly acclaimed production of Macbeth’s Zal in Tehran.
Following successful performances in nine cities around the world and recognition at the prestigious festival, the play, written and directed by Ebrahim Poshtkuhi, will return to stage in September.
The production has previously been exhibited at famous international festivals in Munich, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Shaki, Baku, Yerevan, Budapest, Baghdad and Noyablsk. After a successful success in the main hall of Tehran’s City Theater Complex, he was also featured at the Shakespeare International Festival in Germany.
The film has also been invited to festivals in Avignon and Verona.
In this play, Poshtkuhi blends with the ritualistic general Zar of southern Iran in MacBeth and musical comedy.
“Macbeth of Zar” offers a novel blend of ancient Zar rituals and the timeless tragedy of William Shakespeare, Macbeth. The production rethinks Macbeth’s story set in the island of Halmus, where he gets caught up in a fateful struggle to transform into the “Father of the Great Zah.”
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s finest plays, presenting the effects of a man’s conscience and the guilt on his heart. A dark, bloody play, Macbeth explores reality and fantasy. Magic and supernatural. Ambition and kingship; natural order; light and life, darkness and death. Blood and dead baby.
Saar is a legacy from slavery carried out by African slaves brought to southern Iran. They did it over the weekend to gain energy and allow them to carry the burden of bondage for the rest of the week. Over time, ordinary people also participated in musical rituals that comprised ecstatic dances with dumma (tomtom) performances.
Today, ZAR is primarily carried out by workers in a group named AHL-E HAVA and by leaders called Babazari.
In this play, General Macbeth of Scotland commits a crime to join the AHL-E HAVA to become Babazari.
Previously, it was performed in Iran under the title “Hey Macbeth, only the first dog knows why it’s barking.”
The troupe performed the play at the 41st FAJR International Theatre Festival in 2023 in Tehran. This play brought Poshtkuhi to honor in the best play category. Additionally, musician Behrang Abbasi won the Best Composer Award for collaboration in the play.
“Macbeth of Zar” was invited to the Rainbow at the International Theatre Festival held in St. Petersburg, Russia.
“The (St. Petersburg) Festival is an uncompetitive event, but our play was awarded a trophy by the festival on the closing day,” the director announced.
sab/