An Interview with Qorban Najafi, Actor in “The Cherry Orchard”
Theater Is My Main Passion
Theater Is My Main Passion 2
Theater Is My Main Passion 3
Anton Chekhov, Russian playwright, is one of the permanent and attractive references of theater. A few stage actor and director are not interested in playing in or directing one of his plays. Qorban Najafi, Iran’s noted screen, stage and TV actor, has a career spanning three decades. He has played in many classic plays.
Mr Najafi plays the role of Gayev, brother of Mrs. Ranevksy, in “The Cherry Orchard”. He displays an accomplished acting as a different and reasonable character.
A graduate of theater from Art University’s Cinema and Theater Faculty, he started his career at the age of eight. He starred in “Glass Wall”, “His Life”, “Setayesh” and “The Last Queen of Land”.
“The Cherry Orchard” is directed by veteran Iranian stage actor and director Akbar Zanjanpour. Parastou Golestani, Karim Akbari-Mobarakeh, Mehdi Maiamay, Houshang Ghovanlou, Qorban Najafi, Behnaz Bostandoust, Mohsen Bahrami, Bahar Nohian, Gilda Hamidi, Hamed Zahmatkesh, Mahsa Baqeri and Hamid-Reza Hayat play in “The Cherry Orchard”. Qobad Shiva has designed poster of “The Cherry Orchard”.
“The Cherry Orchard” will be performed until March 20 at 6 pm every day in Vahdat Hall.
Qorban Najafi talks more about Gayev and “The Cherry Orchard”.
Is playing in a theater piece a serious concern for you?
Prior to start a career in cinema and TV, I have had a stage background. I studied theater in the university. Theater is my home although accepting good screen and TV jobs like that with Dariush Farhang distanced me from performing arts. But I emphasize my main passion is theater.
Do you think a shuffle between cinema and theater serves as a job recovery for actors?
Yes. If I do not play in any play each year, I feel I am stagnant. Stage presence purifies mind, soul and body of an actor, challenging his technical capacities and making him to exert extra efforts to search his soul. Theater can help actors to recover his professional capacities. It is like grease for a car engine.
Have you had any cooperation with Akbar Zanjanpour befor “The Cherry Orchard”?
We have been colleague in radio for years. He is one of the legendary figures of Iran theater with special idea. Mr Zanjanpour informed me of planning to direct a play in early summer and proposed me to cooperate with him. I welcomed the proposal warmly and will be ready to play in any pieces directed by him without even reading the texts.
The leading role in “The Cherry Orchard” is a woman. What is your analysis of that character.
I think Chekhov grew in the period of intellectualism in Europe when the world was moving from an agricultural tradition towards modernity and mechanism. Feudalism was gradually being replaced by capitalism. “The Cherry Orchard” is an open criticism of Mrs. Ranevksy and her inability to save her family orchard. She is in deep debt because of a luxurious style of living and numerous visits to Europe. Mrs. Ranevksy got fascinated by the industrial world soon and distanced herself from her small township to be part of crowded big cities. Chekhov was also criticizing useless aristocracy and toughness generosity.
Is the personality of Gayev different from his sister?
Yes. He has a very different personality. He is stable but nobody takes him seriously. Gayev is a representative of the next generation with a nihilistic idea. He is a person who regards origin of everything nature with a reasonable mind.