writers & directors Oriza Hirata, Amir Reza Koohestani, Sylvain Maurice

with Reza Behboodi, Nadine Berland, Cécile Coustillac, Saeid Changizian, Ryuta Furuta, Yoko Hirata, Minako Inoue, Elham Korda, Éric Petitjean

artistic associate Yann Richard
Amir Reza Koohestani’s artistic assistant Mahin Sadri

set and lighting designer Éric Soyer
assistant lighting designer Jean-Pierre Michel
costumes Marie La Rocca
sound Jean De Almeida
videos Renaud Rubiano

French translation for Christmas in Tehran by Rose-Marie Makino
Japanese to French translator Mariko Hara
Japanese to Persian translator Shiori Tanaka
Persian to French translator Negin Sharif

running time 2h30 (including intermission)

production Nouveau Théâtre – Centre Dramatique National de Besançon et de Franche-Comté, Agora planning Ltd., Mehr Theatre Group
co-production Tokyo International Arts festival

A project figuring in 2008 in the programme of European Intercultural Dialogue / supported by CULTURESFRANCE (agency of the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Culture and Communications, in charge of developing links between the world’s cultures) / supported by Région of Franche-Comté (local authority), the Japan Foundation, Tokyo International Arts Festival, ONDA (National Office for Artistic Diffusion), the Credit Cooperatif (bank) and the the artistic support of Jeune Théâtre National.

 


SYNOPSIS

Oriza Hirata, in charge of the first part of the project: Christmas Eve, a small heterogeneous group composed of the Iranian hotel owner and his wife, Japanese investors, French tourists and the hotel staff… find themselves together in a ski resort near Tehran.
These are the dramatic principles we usually find in Oriza Hirata’s playwriting: a single location where characters meet and attempt to communicate; a place where silences are more eloquent than trivial and laconic conversations; a place where time is slowing down, where cross cultural exchanges are the cause of misunderstanding. All of which contributes to the peculiar humor you find in Hirata’s writings.

Amir Reza Koohestani presented the backstage version of Oriza’s play as a counterpoint of what is staged in the first part.
A chaotic backstage where actors whisper together in 4 different languages – French, Persian, Japanese, English – between entrances and exits imposed by the fragmentation of the scenes of Oriza’s play, thus revealing relationships and conflicts. What is going on behind the scenes is obviously fictive and recalls what has been presented in the first part.

 


CALENDAR

. 29th April 2009 / Le Prisme, Elancourt – France
. 21st to 24th April 2009 / Centre dramatique Thionville Lorraine – France
. 14th to 17th April 2009 / Théâtre Dijon-Bourgogne – France
. 7th to 11th April 2009 / L’Echangeur, Bagnolet – France
. 3rd April 2009 / Théâtre Granit / Scène nationale de Belfort – France
. 22rd to 29th March 2009 / Tokyo International Arts Festival – Japan
. 28th January to 6th February 2009 / Nouveau Théâtre de Besançon – France