He’s a great actor who was a pleasure to work with

Siah-bazi is a joyful , ritual and folk show whose roots go back to the Qajar dynasty, but its main character has a long history in ancient Iranian culture and rituals. The blackened face of the performer is indicative of his return from the world of the dead and his red dress is indicative of the flow of blood and new life in him. Therefore, the blackening of this character's face should not be seen from a racist point of view.

In fact, this character is closely related to the celebration of the spring season (Nowruz) and the Iranian New Year, which promises the re-bloom of nature and the freshness of people's bodies and minds.

Siah-Bazi is a comedy and critical show in which the rulers, the powerful, the wealthy, etc., are criticized by a character from the lower classes.

Saadi Afshar, who died on the 19th of April 2013 at the age of 79, is considered one of the greatest actors in the history of the Siah-Bazi show in Iran.

For the first time at the age of seventeen, he played the role of Siah in 1951, and due to his creativity, communication skills and his artistic taste in dealing with current issues and improvisation, he soon became one of the famous Siah-Bazi actors in Lalehzar Halls.

After him, many artists staged their plays with his name and memory, wrote for him and shared their memories about Saadi Afshar.

 

Ali Fathali is an actor, writer and director of traditional and ritual shows and among the artists who have a long history of cooperation with the late Saadi Afshar.

 He talks about his first encounter with Saadi Afshar: My debut as stage actor was to collaborate with the late Hadi Eslami in City Theater Complex.  Then Hadi Eslami offered us to perform the play “ Overnight ruler" in Nasr Theater. At that time, most of the group members, who were artists of the theater administration, did not like to go to Lalehzar Halls at all. So some of us got ready for the performance and went on stage at  Nasr  Theater in Lalehzar Street. It was there that I met Saadi Afshar.

This artist continues: At that time, Lalehzar halls hosted audiences from 10:30 in the morning until around 8:00 in the evening, and artists continued their activities either in halls or at weddings after the shows. People really wanted Saadi Afshar to be present in their ceremonies and believed that his presence is good and blessed for them.

He thinks that working with Saadi Afshar was enjoyable for him: Saadi who was on stage was very different from Saadi in real life. He and his wife had a hard life and he died when his condition was getting better. Afshar was unique. I don't know how to work with other Siah-Bazi artists. He did not have an academic education, but he understood as much as a professor. He knew the comic moment of the show and he knew that comedy has a special moment, but now no one understands this. Afshar believed that a glass has a capacity, if you pour more water into it, it will overflow.

Ali Fethali explains about the situation of the Siah-Bazi shows these days: Unfortunately, there has been no support for Siah-Bazi shows for years. All over the world, government institutions and municipalities support the artists of ritual and traditional shows, but there is no support here. For this reason, artists no longer feel the desire to work.