“Fatherless” and “This Is Not a Pipe”, two plays staged by Mohammad Mosavat in Tehran in 2017, took first place at the 17th edition of the Iranian Theater Critics Awards on Thursday.
“Fatherless” tells the story of a wolf that becomes the partner of a goat living with her kids Shangul, Mangul and Habbeye Angur. The goat tries to make the wolf forget his identity and he does so. But the kids want to become wolves now.
“This Is Not a Pipe” inspired by a painting of the same name from Belgian surrealist artist René Magritte is about two brother Jim and John who have a totally dual idea about their mother and Jim’s wife, Maria.
Radical 14 led by Mosavat was also selected as best theater troupe at the awards ceremony held at the Abbas Kiarostami Hall of the Farabi Cinema Foundation.
The Iranian Theater Critics Awards is annually organized by Iran’s Critics and Theatrical Writers Society of the Theater Forum.
The Khayyam opera puppet show on the life story of the Persian mathematician, astronomer and poet Omar Khayyam (1048-1131) won the award for second best play. It is a production of the Aran Puppet Theater Group led by director Behruz Gharibpur.
The award for best third play was shared by “The History Boys” by Ashkan Kheilnejad and “The Barren Day” by Hossein Kiani.
“The History Boys” is about several students making every endeavor to pass Konkur, annual multiple choice exam for gaining admission to universities in Iran.
“The Barren Day” recounts the story of four prostitutes, which take shelter in a basement after Tehran’s Zahedi infamous red light district is invaded by the revolutionaries in 1979.
The Critics and Theatrical Writers Society also awarded two Social Responsibility Medals to the director and writer Sanaz Bayan for “The Blue Pink” about transsexuals in Iran and director and writer Leili Aj for “Blood Sugar” on the problem of factory closures in Iran.