Concurrent with a Meeting of Director General of Dramatic Arts Center & Cultural Official of European Union
EU Representatives Watched “The Tree”
“The Tree”, which is directed by internationally-acclaimed director Eugenio Barba, hosted some cultural officials from the European Union and Iranian theater directors in Tehran last night.
“The Tree” is being performed by Odin Teatret, in Hafez Hall of the City Theater Complex since Saturday, irantheater.ir reported. Dr Mohammad-Reza Khaki, Dr Farhad Mohandespour, Mohammad Rezaeirad, Dr Qotbeddin Sadeghi, Behzad Seddighi, Kayvan Nakhaei, Baran Kowsari, Fares Baqeri, Jafar Mahyari and some other Iranian artists watched “The Tree” besides foreign guests.
“The Tree” will have its last performance tomorrow.
Odin Teatret said in its website http://www.odinteatret.dk about “The Tree”;
The tree of History grows vigorously and dead. Around it, child-soldiers and praying monks dance together with warlords, a wrathful mother, and the daughter of a poet who, as a child, dreamed of flying away with her father.
Two story-tellers introduce and comment upon characters and events: in the Syrian desert two Yazidi monks plant a pear tree to call back the birds that have disappeared; in Nigeria a mother rests under the shadow of the tree of forgetfulness holding in her arms the head of her daughter hidden in a gourd; a European warlord explains the necessity for ethnic cleansing to an African warlord who performs a human sacrifice to make his army of child soldiers invulnerable before leading them into battle; a girl plays with her dolls around the tree her father planted when she was born, wondering how birds see the earth from the air.
The tree of History finally bends under the weight of fruit and offers a home to the birds that are flying over the heads of the spectators. But what kind of birds are they?
The actors of “The Tree” include Luis Alonso, Parvathy Baul, I Wayan Bawa, Kai Bredholt, Roberta Carreri, Donald Kitt, Elena Floris, Carolina Pizarro, Fausto Pro, Iben Nagel Rasmussen, Julia Varley.
Other members are scenic space: Luca Ruzza, Odin Teatret, lighting designer: Lucca Ruzza and OpenLab Company, lighting advisor: Jesper Kongshaug, tree conception and realization: Giovanna Amoroso and Istvan Zimmermann, Plastikart, software programming: Massimo Zomparelli, costumes and props: Odin Teatret, poster: Barbara Kaczmarek, musical director: Elena Floris, technical director: Fausto Pro, puppets: Niels Kristian Brinth, Fabio Butera, Samir Muhamad, I Gusti Made Lod, dolls’ heads: Signe Herlevsen, photos: Rina Skeel, dramaturg: Thomas Bredsdorff, literary advisor: Nando Taviani, text: Odin Teatret, director’s assistants: Elena Floris, Julia Varley and director: Eugenio Barba.