Disabled Actors To Perform “Rustam and Sohrab” On Stage

Director Mir Kamal Mir-Nasiri stated that the group includes a team of 25 who have been rehearsing for almost a year needing one more year to prepare for the stage.

The text of the play written by Mir-Nasiri garnered a best play nomination at the Fajr Drama Festival in 1991.

On choosing the drama “Rustam and Sohrab”, Mir-Nasiri said, “When those with disabilities play the roles of heroes like Rustam, Sohrab and Zal, they gain confidence which is a major factor in their treatment. The second reason is that though in the past, the heroes were strong men, now Rustam can be a man with bright thoughts and ideas of the Shahnameh’s legendary heroes changing the world with his mind.”

“It is true that a disabled person can not plough a farm with his own hands, but with his mind he can make a machine to do so. It is not only the right but the duty of every disabled person to live.”

On his motive for directing such play using these actors, he added, “I went to spend time with them, to make them believe that they can regain their confidence, self-esteem and power through performing on stage, also telling them that the world is in need of anybody with bright ideas.”

“When one is physically healthy, but is a thief or a criminal, he still feels the right to live, so why shouldn’t a disabled person feel they have this right also.”

Emphasizing that the wall between the disabled and other people should be removed, he concluded that he always reminds the group that, “Even the tallest walls will fall one day, it only begins with a crack, so don’t expect to bring the wall to the ground with the first movement, it takes time to bring the wall down, it requires time.”

Performed by disabled actors from the Kahrizak Charity Nursing Home, “And But Man” was the first play staged at the City Theater Complex and recently at the Bahaman Cultural Center. It was highly acclaimed by audiences and theater professionals.

Sakineh Bayat, Reza Bakhtiari, Giti Parcham, Musa Nikseresht, and Maryam Zein-Ali are among the cast of the play.

RM/DWN/IS

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MNA