Arvand Dashtaray On "Mad Girl's Love Song" and living in a world with makeover

Arvand Dashtaray, stage director head of Virgul film and performing arts company chose the novel "Bluebeard" written by Amélie Nothomb as inspiring for his recent work .

"Mad Girl's Love Song" written by Tala Motazadi and co-directed by Arvand Dashtaray and Marene Van Holk have limited performance on the main hall of City Theater Complex from October 29.

 

The title of the theater is taken from the poem "Mad Girl's Love Song" by Sylvia Plath and the story is a retelling of the novel "Bluebeard" by Amelie Nothomb. How much did you use these two sources in characterizing the show?

I chose the title "Mad Girl's Love Song". This is one of Sylvia Plath's poems that I have always loved and it has left a deep impression on me. The character Saturnine is like the female character of Sylvia Plath's poem .she is facing the events that happen to her; She is in disbelief. It is as if she is facing a dream or a romantic but deadly nightmare. Traces of this phoenix rebellion-temptation relationship can also see in the theme of Plath's poem. Rebellion against what appears to be romantic but is a romantic temptation that sometimes needs to be overcome in order to complete a more important action. Currently, we are facing the situation of today's woman, who has a kind of positive madness in her discourse.

It is interesting that Saturnine's temptation in the show is exactly like the temptation that we deal with in the daily life of today's society.

How can literary adaptation bring new ideas to the theater?

One of the ways we can introduce the world's literature into the theater is to adapt them. Our plays and theaters are far from the experiences of theater world today, and we can certainly bring ourselves closer to them and experiences of the theater world with the help of their literature and adaptations. We try to recreate and practice new forms and experiences of narrative by turning the novel into a performance.

Unlike your other works, "Mad Girl's Love Song" has a simple and straightforward narrative. Tell us about the reason for choosing this method.

-Yes, "Mad Girl's Love Song" has a simple story and it is one of my few works that I have stillness in the way of directing and use still frames and dialogues without much accentuation.

 

Tell us about the reasons that made you use a private investor in the production of this show.

I have been convincing the private sector to invest in the theater for 15 years, and I have gone through many difficulties along the way. The theater becomes independent when its only financial source is the audience and ticket sales, while many artists think that independent theater means moving away from government halls; but  It is a misconception.