َAn Intimate Conversation with Elhan Shabani
A homage to journalists
Iran Theater- Elham Shabani joined the stage as an actress and then started designing costumes because she had studied costume design in university. She has a prolific record; From acting in more than 30 shows and costume design of more than 70 theater, cinema and V.O.D projects.
Elham Shabani, who has recently directed "Bichera Zendegi" on the stage of the Qashqai Hall of Tehran’s City Theater Complex, says that the show is a tribute to Iranian journalists.
"Bichera Zendegi" is written by Lily Aaj with the idea of Elham Shabani.
She talks about her interest in directing plays: stage directing has always been fascinating to me, and now that I have my first directing experience, I think a director should have enough knowledge of costume, stage, music, acting, and everything else.I would also like to say that two years ago, I directed the play "Tehran Time" written by Lily Aaj which unfortunately, after four reviews, my performance was not approved. Then due the pandemic e, the performance of "Tehran Time" was canceled, and then we started production of "Bichera Zendegi".
The show is episodic. She uses some technique to maintain integrity.
Shabani explains: Sometimes you see memories that have been influential in you, each of them stay in your mind in a certain and very intense moment. A romantic memory is tender and a bad memory is unpleasant and annoying. In the same way, I tried to make each character's entry into the story different so that I could keep the rhythm and present a variety of performances. Because the form is more like a monologue show, I was able to create a certain atmosphere through Mise-en-scène, music, moods, body language , performances, and player’s abilities. Ultimately, the audience must decide about the rhythm.
In response to the question that she prefers directing to costume design, Elham Shabani says: Both are very attractive to me. In acting, I may be able to play one of these roles, but when I direct such a play, I can show different aspects of my mind with several characters, and that's more interesting to me right now.