Theater Spreads Spirit of Peace

Qotbeddin Sadeqi, renowned university professor and stage director, delivered speech on the status of theater in urban structure at the “City, Citizenship & Theater Conference” on Tuesday, irantheater.ir reported.   

He said that Iranian culture has had many potentials in the field of urbanization and civilization although it was faced a bumpy road due to historical reasons such as invasions of other countries. “We discovered a bit late the samples of urbanization and civilization in the contemporary period too.”

Mr Sadeqi explained that the ancient Greeks were the first who set aside myths and tried to highlight the identity of humans and citizenship rights for urban dwellers in the absence of myths.

There will be no individuality as long as the myths are alive and all people are nations, the university professor said. “When there is nation, there is unity among all and all people are similar. When myths fade out, the individual differences will become bold, characters will be created and everybody will have right and the good and evil will have equal chance to stand on the stage and defend their rights,” Mr Sadeqi explained.

He argued that people do not get urbanized simply by dwelling in the cities, adding that city meant to create culture and have a new imagination with every creation.

For example, the director said, in a country like Saudi Arabia, many live in the cities but they have in a tribal form and they have no theater venue, movie theater or paintingt exhibition. “That means they do not understand urbanization in its real form and having luxury cars, flashy glasses or eating pizza do not create urban culture. Urban culture must be established in the heart and soul of its dwellers.”

On how theater could make change in modern urban lifestyle, Mr Sadeqi said the theater in its real nature was formed after WWII when the great figures of the art, especially in France, tried to figure out how they could employ it as a medium to make national reconciliation.

The director said that they held numerous festivals in sacred and historical places to reconcile French people through staging classic works, which rooted in their social unconsciousness. They made them people understand that they should not cling to vengeance and hold grudges to each other the rest of their lives, he added.

“They finally reached balance and forget their grudges…To reach such reconciliation in cities other than Paris, talented directors were dispatched to other cities to decentralize theater and chase a serious and organized theater. The measure made peace among the people and blossomed theater. Close to 600 pieces are staged each night in Paris now.”  

Mr Sadeqi concluded that Iran’s classic literature such as Shahnameh or Hafiz poetries, which occupy a high status among Iranians could create reconciliation among all Iranian ethnicities and spread the spirit of peace to all country through theater.