Gossipers and negative criticism[1]
An interview with Jalal Tehrani under the pretext of performing the show Two Clowns and a Half
Jalal Tehrani is performing Two Clowns and Half on stage these days. A play that he wrote himself and perform it with the guys from Maktab Tehran. This time, he did not go for well-known actors and has given a different color to the hall of Nazerzadeh Kermani in Iranshahr Theater, which has been relying on famous actors until now.
Despite all this, there have been positive reviews of Jalal Tehrani's work, but many still have the memory of his past works in their minds and want Jalal Tehrani to return to shows such as The Tank or Single Cells. That is why we raised such criticisms in this conversation with him, and he also has his own reasons.
These days, this show has been extended, and his fans can still go to see Two Clowns and a Half. A show that has both Iranian and non-Iranian atmosphere. In the concept he used, he created a non-Iranian space, but he also used the current conditions of Iranian society in it. That is why the audience who attends his show find a good relationship with it. However, apart from the expectations that the audience has from Tehrani, Two Clowns and Half should be compared with itself. In this work, we see actors introduced by Tehrani who were able to appear successfully in this play. Maybe we don't see the necessary maturity in their acting, but Tehrani knows very well that he must introduce the graduates of his school to the professional field of Iranian theater. This show is staged every night at 20:00 in the Iranshahr Theater.
I think Jalal Tehrani should be only compared with Jalal Tehrani, so you should first ask what his view is. What is there in Tehrani's view that compels him to write and direct?
This question seems a bit general. Theater is my job.
You enter to the sturcture of language in your plays. And you create techniques for it. Where does this way come from, and what do you think the questioning of language has achieved for you in the course of your playwriting?
All that is left for us from the history of theater is language. Today, it may be possible to talk with body or other communication tool, But for me, language is always the most important barrier that I have to cross.
In the show Two Clowns and Half we have both stillness and movement. But what is seen is more stillness in the performance arrangement, how is this contradiction formed in the structure of the work?
Stillness in my theaters means not making a move that we are not completely sure of.
Some believe that in your theater, directing is more effective and the actor does not have much freedom of action. Does this type of view exist in the mind of director Jalal Tehrani? How do you work with actors in this way?
Theater is a collection. Can you imagine this theater without actors? If they do not add behavior, it is only because they did not feel the need for it.
You have used your students in this work. What was your motivation for using unknown actors?
Maktab Tehran is always looking for new talents. These students were among the worthiest students. They deserve this presence, and their presence on the stage is completely satisfactory.
Considering that you have used well-known actors in your past works, I would like to know, in your view as a director, what are the possibilities and abilities of new actors compared to veterans?
I don't categorize actors based on whether they are veterans or newbies. An actor is either good or not. We have no shortage of bad veteran actors.
In some reviews here and there, some people say that Jalal Tehrani has not been able to maintain the quality of his work compared to his previous works. How much of these criticisms do you consider to be the result of critics' judgments about the choice of actors?
Critics have not written a negative review about this work so far. If they have written, I have not seen it. And a criticism of that kind exists it's among the gossipers. The one who can compare The Tank or Cinderella with Two Clowns and Half is a genius whose type of genius I don't understand; These are three different worlds and have three different styles. They are three different forms of theater. Now, this is not my first performance, but it is the first performance of my actors. Why can't they accept this as an option, a choice?
In addition to the performance form of your shows, the concept also becomes important and engages the audience with serious and even basic questions such as "Who am I?" or "Where is this?" where did this script and its idea come from?
This play was written many years ago, 16 years ago, inspired by Friedrich Durnmatt's Night Conversation. And that’s where the first sentence of the script comes from.
What caught my attention as an audience in this work was the use of shadows. How much of these shadows were designed in advance in your direction, and how much did you achieve during the performance? What was the function of shadows for you as a director?
As a mental stereotype, the shadow evokes loneliness. A single shadow can be used as a companion for the author, but when it is two of them, it represents loneliness because it reinforces the illusion of its presence.
You directed this work in 10 days, did you have any ideas that could not be turned into a part of the performance in this short time that you gave up on?
All the ideas of this project were designed and implemented for directing in 10 days. In the theater, we always work based on facts. Based on things that can be evaluated with the five senses.
Bahauddin Morshedi
[1] Farhikhtegan newspaper, 2017