text and direction Amir Reza Koohestani

with Mona Ahmadi, Saeid ChangizianLeyli Rashidi
and on video Juliette Rezai

scenography Shahryar Hatami
video creation Davoud Sadri and Ali Shirkhodaei
light creation Xavier Lauwers
sound creation Ankido Darash
costumes Shima Mirhamidi
director’s assistants Mohammad Reza Hosseinzadeh and Mohammad Khaksari

construction of the set Kopspel (Antwerp)

show in Persian with supertitles
duration 1h10

production Mehr Theatre Group coproduction Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Festival d’Avignon, Festival delle Colline Torinesi / Fondazione TPE, La Bâtie – Festival de Genève, Künstlerhaus Mousonturm Frankfurt am Main, Théâtre National de Bretagne, Münchner Kammerspiele, La Filature – Scène nationale de Mulhouse, Théâtre populaire romand – Centre neuchâtelois des arts vivants, La Chaux-de-Fonds
with the support of ONDA (The French office for contemporary performing arts circulation) in French speaking countries.

World premiere at the Kunstenfestivaldesarts (KVS Box) on the 22nd May 2018.

Production managers Mohammad Reza Hosseinzadeh and Pierre Reis
Company and tour management Pierre Reis

 


SYNOPSIS

Three people. A painter, a school supervisor, a young mother.
A school yard. A merry-go-round.
Nine months. Three seasons. No summer.

The painter and the school supervisor once lived together. Then they split up because the painter wanted to live by his art, come what may, but his paintings didn’t sell. The supervisor wanted to have a baby before it was too late. Neither of them managed to start over again. Living alone was cheaper all the same. He took a 40 square meter flat, she went back to live with her father after her mother’s death.

School heads have recently been given the right to set their own tuition fees. The head of this school has decided that to justify the price rise, she’ll have the school redecorated and  propose new activities for the students. The supervisor has been put in charge of the redecorating.

Since she doesn’t know anybody in Tehran, she thinks of the painter. His job is to paint over the slogans and maxims that have covered the walls of the school yard ever since the Revolution 20 years ago, and to replace them with some paintings and more up-to-date inscriptions. After whitewashing the walls, he has two months to finish the job. But the work drags on. Money is short, the painter is taking his time.

Every day, an hour before school is out, a mother comes to sit on the merry-go-round in the yard, waiting for the bell to ring. She and the painter strike up a conversation that they carry on day by day. Until one day the mother discovers that the painter is painting her portrait on the wall.

 


TOUR DATES

. 22 – 26 May 2018 / Kunstenfestivaldesarts, KVS Box, Brussels – Belgium
. 9 – 10 June 2018 / Festival delle Colline Torinesi, Torino – Italy
. 8 – 15 July 2018 / Festival d’Avignon, La Chartreuse de Villeneuve lez Avignon – France
. 4 – 23 August 2018 / Iranshahr Theater, Tehran – Iran
. 6 – 8 September 2018 / Théâtre du Loup, La Bâtie – Festival de Genève – Switzerland
. 26 – 27 September 2018 / Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, Frankfurt am Main – Germany
. 16 – 17 October 2018 / Münchner Kammerspiele, Munich – Germany
. 22 – 24 November 2018 / Théâtre National de Bretagne, Rennes – France
. 28 – 29 November 2018 / deSingel, Antwerp – Belgium
. 11 – 12 January 2019 / Les Vagamondes – La Filature Scène nationale de Mulhouse – France
. 16 – 17 January 2019 / Kaserne, Bâle – Switzerland
. 19 – 20 January 2019 / Théâtre populaire romand, La Chaux-de-Fonds – Switzerland
. 4 – 25 February 2019 / Mostaghel Theatre, Tehran – Iran
. 15 – 19 April 2019 / Honar Shahr Aftab Cineplex, Shiraz – Iran
. 22 – 24 January 2020 / Théâtre La Vignette, Montpellier – France
. 28 January – 1 February 2020 / Théâtre des Célestins, Lyon – France
. 6 February 2020 / Le Carreau, Forbach – France