An Interview with Ali Akbar Alizad, Director of Piece by Samuel Beckett
Many Iranians Still Regard Beckett an Absurdist Playwright
Ali Akbar Alizad is founder of 84Theater Troupe. He is an active and modernist theater professor, who is a member of scientific board of the Cinema-Theater Faculty. Mr Alizad is an impeccable Beckett expert. He has so far directed “Waiting for Godot”, “The House of Bernarda Alba”, “Act Without Words I” and “Act Without Words II”.
Alizad has always chased different new acts in structure, space and performance with his students. Alizad is interested in working on modernist playwrights such as Beckett, David Mamet and Harold Pinter. He directed Mamet’s “Oleanna” in Iranshahr Theater last year. He also staged “Mountain Language” by Pinter this year in Mowlavi Theater in Student Theater Festival.
In his latest direction, he has rehearsed pieces by Beckett with Alireza Kaymanesh, Morteza Hosseinzadeh, Katayoun Saleki, Shafaq Nasr, Navid Zare’, Pejman Yavari and Mohammad Majidian.
It seems you are so much interested in Samuel Beckett and his plays.
I have not staged any play that I am not interested in. I am an enthusiastic fan of Samuel Beckett. His plays and performing his works have always been a major challenge for me. Therefore, I like my cast and I to be challenged.
Most of the Beckett plays are sophisticated and multi-layered. Is not it difficult for a director, who is directing a Beckett play, how to connect with the audience?
Most pieces, which are being staged these days, shows in some ways that directors wanted to use an easy structure to appease the audience no matter the play is written by Beckett or another author. The main objective is to please the audience. The director has a daunting task ahead with Beckett for connecting to audience. The Beckett world is unique and minimalist. I have tried to get close to a more routine Beckett in my performance. I had been more loyal to Beckett in my previous performances.
Have you done a thorough dramaturgy?
I have done interpretations, which I suppose the Beckett experts do not love it. I had directed these pieces once before and I did not want to repeat myself again. I employed a new form.
Many young directors have performed Beckett plays in recent years.
There is an old and outdated approach toward Beckett in Iran about the absurd theater. It is strange for me that many experts suppose Beckett as an absurd playwright and think when we are talking of absurd it means a special method and acting. It is not like this at all. Many leading international experts believe today that Beckett could not be explained with absurd theater.
How do you think the new approach toward Beckett should be?
There are different approaches. He can be regarded a nihilistic playwright or a brave author who looked into the most hideous issues affecting the human such as war, massacre, famine and etc. Beckett has not been a nihilistic playwright in its common description. He does not believe that we are in apocalypse now.