Mahmoud Azizi’s message for National Dramatic arts Day

Every year, on World Theater Day, one of the greats artists wrote a message . This year, the International Theatre Institute ITI is honoured to invite Jon Fosse, a Norwegian playwright and the Nobel Prize in Literature laureate, to write the Message for World Theatre Day 2024. So it is customary for one of the greats Iranian artists to publish a message on the 7th of Farvardin (Iran's National Dramatic Arts Day).

World Theatre Day is an international observance celebrated on 27 March. It was initiated in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute.

                                                 

The message of Mahmoud Azizi is as follows:

 

Happy World Theater Day to the performers and audience of this influential social activity who honored this beautiful activity until today and the future of humanity and give meaning to the show. There have been misunderstandings about the theme of the show with the aesthetics of the stage for a long time. It took a long time for the laws to confirm and welcome the value of this masterpiece of human creativity in teaching ethics, behavior and beauty. Although during the times, theater artists went through many hardships and until today they have survived from misunderstandings with the patience, innovation and innovation and have reached this day.

 

Whether we like it or not, as long as there is a human being, the need to attend the theater, or in other words, this form of social demonstration, will be and will remain inevitable.

  From the time of Plato until now, the history of drama witnessed dissatisfaction with the way of looking at the universe. In an era, huge and magnificent theaters were built to expropriate theaters, and theater troupes were invited to put on shows in these theaters, entertain people, and earn cultural and artistic points for them by describing the accepted heroes of a certain class; But the theater is and will remain with the people. The phenomenon of theater and theater artists have arisen from the hearts of the people throughout history and always maintain and praise their popular status.

 

I remind you that during the golden age of Greece, government figures sponsored the production of the show in order to gain advantage and have their names recorded in the plaques prepared for this purpose. There was even a time when theater stars were given government responsibilities and we still see this process.

What is the phenomenon of theater that has always been disliked or praised throughout the history?   Perhaps the theater is a mirror of life and the theater artist tries to show the beautiful side of life in this mirror, because the theater is dynamic and educational, it creates happiness, raises questions and makes the audience question the conditions of life.  The theater has been able to preserve its oppressed body until today with its intelligence in different forms of performance.

 

When it comes to state, national, independent theater, etc., we must always be careful that these categories do not cause division among the big theater community.  The demarcation of these different forms of theater is an inevitable thing for research, but any form of drama should not suffer from demarcation, political interests and create division generally.

Now that these words are being said, some people are looking for a way to attack to mislead the main theme of theater and World Theater Day and the Day of Solidarity of the Big Theater Family, they are unaware that the light of theater is always bright, even if Profiteers try to undermine it sometimes.

 

Intelligent societies always pay attention to the sacrifice of stage artists and know that this historical phenomenon is as necessary for life as air.   Therefore, we always see the production of magnificent works that the public is eager to watch. Theater is a kind of politics, but it is not political. If it was political, it would not have a long life; The life of political theaters, like political groups, is short. We must avoid politicizing theater so that it does not deviate from its goals

 

From the time of transition from ritual to the present day,The history of theater developments is based on many theories that arise from the conditions of human societies, which shows the responsibility of the theater towards the society. The responsibility of mobilizing the audience to fight against inequality and the desire to raise people's awareness are things that have always put theater under the microscope of political powers. And they have tried to use this virtuous power for their benefit. However, theater and theatrical activity is for the public and does not recognize categories or groups. Just as UNESCO's motto was that "the theater is the bridge of communication between nations".

 

If the theater sees its feathers and wings burned in the fire of narrow-minded people in a difficult time, it will find its wings again like a phoenix and continue to fly with a show of fantasy that is both drama and comedy. It continues to live like life. So think about the wings of the theater and enter the imaginary show; A fantasy that is both reality and a dream. Theater and life are necessary for each other. I congratulate all the self-sacrificing soldiers of theater, this bastion of humanity and its audience, who give meaning to theater, on International Theater Day, be happy.