TEHRAN � The drama section of the 34th edition of Fajr International Theater Festival was inaugurated at Tehran�s City Theater Complex on Monday.

This is first time the drama section is being held independently of the main competition section of performances to focus better on plays written by Iranian playwrights and select the best plays, secretary of the festival Saeid Asadi said at the opening ceremony.

A selection of submitted plays will be recited through reading performances by veteran theatrical figures throughout the program to better choose the best plays, he added.

�We have also invited the professional theater producers to attend and choose and invest in the plays,� Asadi said.

�We did not want the efforts made by playwrights to be undermined in the competition section and we also intend to publish the plays so they can be performed later over the years,� he added.

�A jury panel including veteran theatrical figures Mohammad Charmshir, Kamran Sepehr and Kurosh Narimani studied the submitted works and chose the final plays,� he said.

Veteran actor and director Farhad Aiish, also attending the ceremony, praised the move and proposed that stage directors make use of plays written by talented playwrights.

�Many write but are not seen. I hope, as a result of the reading performances being held during the event, professional stage directors will become more familiar with the plays and choose them for performances,� he said.

�It seems a medium is needed to introduce unknown writers to professional directors and this section could act as that medium,� he continued.

�Most of the innovation these days goes back to stage directing, however, this innovation should find its way into plays. Perhaps our theater is moving towards a new phase in which text is seen less while images and other media are being replaced. This is very dangerous because the concept of play writing will gradually be lost,� he explained.

A series of workshops has also been arranged on the side section of the festival, which runs until Friday.

By Tehran Times