What follows is the result of an idea to connect the field of philosophy and thought with the world of drama. Let us choose sentences to ponder from the statements of the members of the philosophical group, which are archived in the “Chistiha Blog” (http://chistiha.blogfa.com); and after manipulating the concepts of those statements, and doing a brief exercise and editing, let us create a dramatic idea that will continue to form another dialogue, another concept, and another thought.
In the principles of drama writing, “ideation” and “drafting” have a specific method; but we tried to be one step before the idea and the plot. At the same stage of mental spark or, in our own words, the “study” stage, where the writer’s hand is open to writing down any image, concept, or point. Here, we have not limited ourselves to not mentioning the technical instructions, performance arrangements, dialogue, staging, and other matters, and left them for more detailed plans; on the contrary, we have completely written down whatever came to mind at the moment.
During our group meetings, we came to the conclusion that it was not necessary to obtain refined and precise plans from our conversations. It was only necessary to immediately edit and record everything that came to mind in an instant as a “study.”
And now we share the same with you. May these exercises and sketches be the beginning of a path to step on a bridge between philosophy and drama.
Ideas on the Bridge from Philosophy to Drama: Etude One Hundred and Seventeen
Note: These sketches have been registered with the Islamic Culture and Guidance Department. And the intellectual property belongs to the author.
These sketches are only allowed to be republished on the “Chistiha” site.
Etude number one hundred and ninth
Etude 109
Screenplay for a half-length film
Year 2019, Tehran
Story of the first episode
Jalal, a third-year literature student at the National University (Shahid Beheshti), 28 years old (born in 1991). Poet and short story writer. He has been writing poetry since he was eight. So far, he has written 23 books and published them on the Internet under a pseudonym; because he does not believe in paper publishing. He has only sought permission for one collection of his poems; and he has burned the back of his hand not to go there again. Because it has cost him dearly.
Jalal is a child of Varamin. His father recently died. And he does not have the money to buy a suitable stone for his father’s grave. Even after six months, he has not ordered a tombstone. And every time he goes to Behesht Zahra, he feels ashamed.
Jalal’s father, Mr. Seif, although young, had a stroke. The day he was returning from the mass protests against the contractor company of Engineer Naibi. That day, the crowd was bigger than usual and the police came and put Ghayla to sleep. Protesters had gathered for the right to housing. Their money had not been returned and the project was on hold. That day, Jalal’s father had a stroke on the street and several of the same protesters had taken him to the hospital, but he had finished.
Jalal now comes to Behesht Zahra regularly. He comes by subway. Jalal is completely penniless. And full of anger and resentment. His personality has changed and he no longer has anything in mind except revenge. He also has no news about his family’s situation. He hasn’t seen his mother and three siblings who are in Varamin for a long time.
His friend and roommate, Khosro, is an architecture student at the National University. They are the same age and Khosro is from Arak. Khosro is financially well-off and also works for an engineering company. He has rented a room on the top floor of a 35-meter house in the Darakeh area; a shantytown. And although his own space in that room is cramped, he has long since let Jalal into his room because he feels sorry for him.
Some fragments of the initial sequences:
It is the end-of-term Islamic ethics exam. Khosrow and Jalal are in the front row. And Mahtab Sarli is behind them. She is a Turkmen girl and a classmate of Khosrow. Jalal, whose paper is white, has reached the sixth question, which is about human dignity. She points with her finger to the numbers 5 and 1, but Khosrow doesn’t understand and thinks she means question 15. Mahtab notices and slowly takes a piece of paper from under her hand and writes the answer, then drops her pen and, intending to pick up the pen, places the paper on Jalal’s desk. The examiner, who has fully understood, puts it down at the end of the session and draws a red line on it without making a sound. And at the beginning of the session, Jalal also gives her a white paper and stands up. Khosrow will be ashamed of his classmate later.
In one scene, Mahtab is in the university’s central library, when suddenly all her papers and research slips fall out of her hands. And Dr. Pouran Taji bends down and helps collect all the papers. Mahtab is embarrassed and thanks the professor.
The last scene:
On an overpass, Jalal is standing. His intention is clear. Suicide. But he has no movement to take a step. He is frozen. And of course, several people who pass by are scared of his deformed state and slowly move away. A hand suddenly grabs his hand. It is Khosrow’s hand. Both of them stare at the horizon. Jalal talks about stealing flowers for his father’s grave. And that it was his only theft and confesses that I wanted to please my father, which I can do too [meaning I can do wrong.]. (And in these moments, we see the reality that Jalal mostly stole the flowers that were on Sarah’s fiancé’s gravestone.) Khosrow would take out a cigarette and give it to Jalal. Exactly what he was against. And every time Jalal went to get a cigarette, Khosrow would take it from him and put it to his own lips with the advice: It’s not appropriate to get addicted now; your financial situation is ruined right now. I’m different. I can at least buy the next pack.
Episode 2 Story
Sara is a girl from the old Parandak area and the modern Parand. She is a final year pharmacy student. 30 years old. Born in 1989. Her fiancé, Amir Ali, was killed during a cowardly fight. A fight between construction workers from the Mehr housing complex in Parand; which ended with the mediation of Amir Ali Ghaele, but at the last moment one of the workers started a fight again, and in the meantime Amir Ali was thrown from the upper floors of the building.
Sara comes to Behesht Zahra every week and places flowers on Amir Ali’s gravestone. But she doesn’t understand why every time she comes, there is no news of the flowers she placed the week before. She comes by taxi and explains the matter to the taxi driver.
Sara has a mother who is hospitalized at home. And Sara’s younger sister, Mana, most of the time takes care of her mother. Because Sara is serving her service project at a pharmacy. A pharmacy near Velenjak, National University, and Darakeh.
In the pharmacy where Sara works, Khosrow has come and taken medicine several times. Medicine for Jalal’s cold.
The last scene:
While Sara is approaching the edge of the yellow line at the metro station, her eyes staring at the blackness of the tunnel; she hears terrible sounds. At the same time, her handbag falls from her hand. While she is standing like a statue. Incidentally, Mahtab is also there. We know her. Mahtab, who notices the expression of Sara’s dull eyes and disfigured face, realizes what she is up to. As the train approaches, she jumps and throws Sara towards the seats with her bag strapped to her neck; and saves her.
Story of the third episode
Jahan Banu Taji, a 48-year-old woman (born in 1971), a housewife. Wife of Engineer Eshaghi, the head of the largest housing contractor in Mehr. She has been having emotional problems with her husband for years and she knows that she cannot change their lives and she knows that she does not want to change them. She knows that her husband has another young wife that apparently no one knows about. Jahan Banu often goes to Behesht Zahra. To the grave of their daughter. Her daughter, Nafiseh, who recently died at the age of 17, due to an unknown illness within three days. Right after that photo she took at a photo shoot for the school festival. That same afternoon, her body starts to turn red. And itches. And no doctor has been able to treat her. Although they had admitted her to the best hospital, she died three days later. And this mother is not there. She goes there and sits at the grave until the evening. And she returns with the agency. She tells the agency driver about her heartache.
Jahan Banu has a sister named Pouran. Pouran is a professor at Shahid Beheshti University. She is a professor of literature. She is a poet herself and her research books have reached the fourteenth edition. Although Pooran is 2 years younger than Jahan Banu, she has the wisdom and independence of her mother’s opinion and management. Her husband has been dead for many years. And the fruit of their life is a son who has gone abroad to study.
Jahan Banu, in the midst of her conflict and anger with Engineer Ishaqi, decides to commit suicide and repeatedly goes to the pharmacy to buy a large amount of sleeping pills. To gather herself and implement her decision at once. She has been leaving their luxurious apartment for several days now and has come to Pooran’s house and has been staying. A relatively old and small two-story house in the Velenjak area. Near the water canal. We guess that Jahan Banu wants to throw herself into the canal, but we are wrong.
On the promised day, Pooran, who guessed, arrives and saves her sister. Just as she takes the first pills, Pooran arrives.
In the end, maybe Mahtab will deliver some of Jalal’s PDF books to Pooran so that he can use his position at the university to publish them. Pooran, however, prefers to sell the PDFs to foreign content sites, which means globalizing Jalal’s message.
Our emphasis was on the loneliness of people. Being right next to each other and not seeing each other. That’s why we used an episodic structure.
The emphasis on suppressed anger. And revenge that turns upside down and ends in suicide.
And the emphasis on thefts on a large scale. And not having a home and housing for peace. If there weren’t large thefts, there might have been peace.
And the death of loved ones; which is hard. And this nation has lost so many loved ones. And these people are just helping each other and saving each other. Not the system. In this story, we did not have much contact with Engineer Ishaqi, who was the top of the pyramid of all misfortunes, because we did not want to witness the events behind the scenes. It is better to keep it hidden and mysterious.
And the emphasis that houses, these matchbox houses, no matter whether they are Mehr housing or the best modern apartment, make people into mechanical people. While those same old 35-meter rooms have a single tree in their four-five-meter yard, which becomes the soul of the house. There is a one-meter pond that becomes the soul of the house.
Author: B. Khosravani
It is recalled that any copying and extraction of these ideas, from an ethical and legal perspective, is only possible by mentioning the address, and use for performance will only be possible if the author’s written consent is obtained.