Behrouz Gharibpour: Puppet shows have been weakened by underrated point of views

Referring to the first performance of this opera, Gharibpour said: "The conditions created by the pandemic caused many members of the troupe to migrate to cities or abroad or to be forced to change jobs. So I chose a show that would be both the beginning of a repertoire and would be very popular domestically and internationally. For this reason, I began the reproduction with Rumi's Opera. This show was the best choice for revival of the Aran Art Group for various reasons. We had two months of very hard rehearsal, and many of our members have become experts in the cotton puppet show."

 

He continued: "This opera has attracted the attention of audiences in Iran and abroad , and we may prepare this work for international performances."

 

The artist said: "Unfortunately, our students do not receive proper practical training in universities. They only learn theory. The challenge starts when administrators, universities, and students are unaware of the values ​​of puppetry, and the students only think about completing bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. It proves that universities are the only place to get a degree. For this reason, all of them have a contemptuous view of puppetry. So  the performer has no desire to experience other types of performances."

 

He went on to say: "People are taught all over the world about all kinds of arts. In our universities, in the name of puppetry, strange creatures have been produced. When a field of study is filled with irrelevant lessons and a lack of workshops for experimental work, this humiliation will continue and we cannot expect better conditions in this field. This contemptuous view has caused our puppet products to become extremely weak, while puppets reflect the human world and can be comic, tragic, and... More attention should be paid to the importance of puppet shows."

Behrouz Gharibpour concluded: "Unfortunately, it seems that puppetry is considered the easiest major in university, and this is an issue that needs to be considered ."