Iranian troupe performs “Ivanov” in Europe

TEHRAN,June 29(MNA) -- An Iranian theater troupe named Mehr has performed “Ivanov”, based on a play of the same name by Anton Chekhov, in Belgium and Germany over the past two weeks. Some modifications were made to Chekhov’s work to bring hope to the storyline, director Amir-Reza Kuhestani told on Thursday. Brussels’ Bozar Center for Fine Arts hosted the troupe on June 14 and 15 after which it left the city to perform the play at the Festival Theaterformen in Hanover on June 19 and 18. Belgian theater expert Julie Rodeyns and Kuhestani attended a panel discussion before each performance at the Bozar Center for Fine Arts. “The Belgian audiences warmly welcomed the play and some of their renowned newspapers wrote reviews on our performances as well,” Kuhestani said. The performances were provided with French and Dutch subtitles. Kuhestani said that the play was acclaimed in some German papers and theater websites. Vahid Aqapur, Ali Baqeri, Reza Behbudi, Saeid Changizian, Fatemeh Fakhraii, Negar Javaherian, Fatemeh Kamran, Hassan Majuni and Mahin Sadri are members of the cast. The troupe performed “Ivanov” at Tehran’s Iranshahr Hall in October and November 2011. The play is about Ivanov, a depressed landowner, who is at the end of his rope. Business is bad and his wife, Anna, is dying. Instead of facing up to his problems, he gives up, withdrawing and completely isolating himself; his passivity comes to fill him with self-loathing. Abandoning his critically ill wife, he passes his evenings at the home of his old friend Lebedev, whose daughter Sasha falls in love with this antihero.