Pedram Azmoudeh on Somewhere among the pigs
Iran Theater- Pedram Azmoudeh, the director of "Somewhere among Pigs" believes that the play and the cast are the important elements of this show and the audience understood the meaning of the story without using unnecessary and diverse methods by paying attention to the play and the cast.
Pedram Azmoudeh is an experienced theater actor who has previously appeared as in shows such as "Iftaraq", "Return of the Dead", "Saturday's Big Hunt" and "Where are you,Hasnak?" Recently, he ‘s directed the show "Somewhere Among Pigs" written by Athol Fugard. The show has been on stage at the Blue Stage Theater from August 15th.
Athol Fugard is a South African playwright, novelist, actor, and director widely regarded as South Africa's greatest playwright. He is best known for his political and penetrating plays opposing the system of apartheid and for the 2005 Oscar-winning film of his novel Tsotsi, directed by Gavin Hood.
The first important element for directing is the choice of the play. "Somewhere Among Pigs" is one of the works that require special courage to direct. Wasn't it difficult to choose it for the first directing experience?
- I think Fugard challenged the directors with this play. He has written the play very hard and it talks about not being afraid.
I paid attention to the content. When I chose it for the performance, I tried to keep the audience without resorting to lampoonism and ineffective uses of language. The play was my personal concerns as well. The best writers must express our concerns in the correct formats, which is enough for us to know them.
So the play has made the first impression on you to get rid of possible fears and become a director...
- When people want to do something big, their thoughts, fears and worries overwhelm them and they don't allow them to take a step. As Sohrab Sepehri wrote: "The water is just a step away, let's take off the clothes."
The impact of the play on me was exactly the same. I came to this conclusion that you can achieve your desires very easily, if you overcome your mind.
The play is longer than the one we see on stage. How faithful were you to the play?
- The drama was about 100 minutes and was set in Russia, we shortened it with dramaturgy without changing the main story. It is better to say that we remained faithful to the play. Fugard's concerns include working class, the capitalist system, and war, which have been addressed in metaphorical language and have been addressed without change and more or less in performance.
There is a song in Russian that could have been a song in Persian in the show. Why did you use a Russian song?
- Only one song is mentioned in the play, but during my research about World War II, I found this song, which was the national music for Russian soldiers and a symbol of motivation, hope, and courage. That's why I chose it and I preferred to use it in the original language.