The tragic fate of Macbeth on the edge of the Persian Gulf

Ebrahim Poshtkuhi started his career in the theater when he was a teenager. He directed many shows such as  "Like Water for Chocolate", "The Last Pomegranate in the World", "The Only House Crab Makes a Home in the Sheets, Othello", "Barges without sails", and "The Treatise on Blood Circulation".

Many audiences know Poshtkuhi through his free interpretations and adaptations of great works such as "Dante's Divine Comedy", "The Blind Owl and Farhad's Corpse", "Othello" and "Macbeth", Adaptations that are combined with Iranian culture, rituals and customs.

The play "Macbeth Zar" written and directed by Ebrahim Poshtkuhi  is a combination of Shakespeare's "Macbeth" with "Zar" ritual and with a look at the performance methods of Kabuki (Japan), Kathakali (India), Butoh (Japan) and Commedia dell'arte (Italy). The show is on stage these days in the main hall of Tehran City Theater Complex.

Zar is a legacy from slavery as it was performed by African slaves who were brought to southern Iran. They performed it on weekends in order to gain energy to enable them to bear the burden of bondage for the rest of the week. Over time, ordinary people also joined in their musical rite comprising ecstatic dance.

Although there are differences in the way this ceremony is held in Iran and Africa, the purpose of holding it is the same and they have similar musical rhythms.

Some people of the southern regions of Iran believe that "Zar" is actually a kind of extraterrestrial wind or genie that enters the country riding the waves of the sea and through the monsoons and permeates people's bodies in different ways.

With the penetration of "Zar" in the body, a person suffers from pain and becomes ill that cannot be cured by usual treatments, and the only way to cure it is to hold a Zar ritual.

Poshtokuhi explains about the performance of the play "Macbeth" with a combination of "Zar" ritual: So far, the play "Macbeth" has been staged many times in the world, so our initial idea was that if we are going to stage this play; How to make it work so that it is not repetitive. Japan is one of the leading countries in the field of adaptation and dramaturgy in the world, especially on Shakespeare’s works. Maybe Kurosawa's " Throne of Blood" was in my mind from years ago. This adaptation has become so Japanese , as if Shakespeare wrote this work from the beginning for Japan and in the cultural and social atmosphere of this country.

He continues: " My family are from southern of Iran and I have lived my youth in Hormozgan and on the coast of the Persian Gulf, I am familiar with the rituals of that region and the traditions of the people have always been a part of my life. My previous knowledge as well as my research about the ritual ceremony of "Zar" were other factors that led me to combine "Zar" with "Macbeth". The main element of Zar, apart from its attractive music, is its magic and enchantment. The beginning of the play "Macbeth" was with the witch sisters; Therefore, this beginning could be a factor for creating a world that is consistent with Zar. I thought that it would not be strange if all these things happened in Zar, and this is where the spark of adaptation of "Macbeth" and "Zar" was formed.

This director explains about the use of theatrical methods from India, Japan and Italy in the performance of "Macbeth Zar": "I tried to classify the behavior and life of the characters on the stage in the performance of "Macbeth Zar" from several methods from other countries. I brought the movements of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth closer to kabuki to show the aristocracy. I used Kathakali for Zar sisters. I considered Commedia dell'arte for the lower class and the common people and  I ended up with a collage of different shows that includes Butoh. It was difficult to practice and perform all these movements and adapt them to the bodies of the actors.

In response to the question of whether "Macbeth Zar" can be called a formist play, he answers: "The word formist in Persian does not give us the breadth of meaning. Some forms only pay attention to some movements, which is not the correct meaning. "Macbeth Zar" is a pictorial and poetic theater because theater is not only an art to see and hear. Theater is for all our senses and we tried to pay attention to all these things. Although achieving physical expression is even more important than dialogues. It should be noted that in international performances, the audience does not understand our language, but despite the fact that subtitles are not used; They completely understand the work and relate to it; Therefore, if we look at "Macbeth zar" from this point of view; Yes, this show is a formalism."