Tehran-The Play “The Midnight Library” was a rough adaptation from a fantasy novel with a name written by Matt Haig.
Following its highly successful first run last winter, it attracted 15,000 spectators over 70 nights, making it one of the most viewed plays of the year, with the Midnight Library starting its second round performance at the same venue on April 16th, continuing to receive a passionate audience response.
Niki Mozafari played the lead role in the first round of the performance. However, she was replaced by Mona Farhad, who joined Mohammad Shabanpur on stage.
The 70-minute play is directed by Mohammad Malekshahi, based on a script written by Mojtaba Golestani and Nima Nafe.
Originally published in 2020, the novel follows a 35-year-old British woman who is unhappy with her dead-end life, given the opportunity to experience the life she might have had if she made a different choice.
When Norased finds herself in the library in the middle of the night, she has the opportunity to get things right. Up until now, her life has been filled with misery and regret. She feels she has disappointed everyone, including herself. But things are about to change.
In the middle of the night, she tries to kill herself, but ends up at a library managed by the school librarian. The library is between life and death, and millions of books filled with stories of her life have made several decisions differently.
Midnight Library books allow Nora to live as if she did things differently. With the help of an old friend, she tries to solve her perfect life, so she can undo all of her regrets. But things aren’t necessarily what she imagined, and soon her choice puts the library and herself in extreme danger.
Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?
“The Midnight Library” has been a finalist for the 2021 British Book Award, “Fiction Book of the Year.”
Matt Hague, 49, is an English writer and journalist. He writes both fiction and non-fiction books for children and adults, often in the speculative fiction genre.
His other novels include “How to Stop Time,” “Man,” “Radrese,” and “The Impossibility of Life.” He also writes books for children, including The Boy Called Christmas and the memoir “Why He Will Live.”
The second round of “The Midnight Library” performances will remain on stage at Malek Sterate, located at Malek St., Shariati St., until May 22nd.
Photo: Mona Farjad (L) and Mohammad Shabanpour from “The Midnight Library.”
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