Pieces Better than Before

Ten out of many pieces received permission to take part in the final competition as this edition set higher yardstick for the shows to improve the quality, said Dr Hamideh Mahouzi, the secretary of the festival, irantheater.ir reported.

Ms Mahouzi added that southern Iranian city of Busher, which sits on the shores of the Persian Gulf, hosts the festival from September 24 to 29, adding that the event aimed at promoting the quality this year and the pieces had been admitted after strict evaluation.

Twenty nine out of 52 plays, which were submitted to the festival, were qualified for re-evaluation, the official said, adding that the jury finally decided that ten pieces could compete in the festival and three could take part as guest.

On the achievement of this edition, Ms Mahouzi said that the educational workshops of the festival had grown 60-70 per cent this year compared to the previous editions

She said that Mehrdad Abrovan, a theater critic, would talk about each piece every day at 21:30 in a session which would be attended by artists and professional theater-goers.

Dr Mahouzi said that Bushehr audience had always been a fan of theater but the enthusiasm have been unprecedented this year given that the provincial cities had become more familiar with theater following the establishment of five new stages in the Bushehr province.

"We are hopeful that the enthusiasm would continue and lead to promotion of Bushehr theater," Ms Mahouzi said.

The closing ceremony of the festival will be held on Thursday at 18 in the main auditorium of Bushehr City Theater.