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.
Idea number one hundred and ten
Etude 110
Stage performance
with video projection
Initial working title: Memory therapy on Skype
People:
Three sisters, and another woman in four different countries.
Sisters:
Narges; 60 years old. She has been living in the Netherlands for 39 years – her husband was killed 39 years ago at the beginning of the revolution; and she never understood why he was killed. At the same time, she came to the Netherlands with her two children and opened a wedding dress shop; and she still works sewing, repairing and renting wedding dresses. Now her eyesight has deteriorated and she can hardly sew. And her ears got infected a year ago and she can’t hear at all. Her children have been living in America for many years. Both her daughter and son.
Negar; 48 years old. She has been living in Canada for 19 years – she got divorced 19 years ago and she and her daughter came to Canada. Negar also has MS. Now her disease has worsened. Her ex-husband became rich after the divorce and remarried and then divorced again. Years ago, when Negar separated, she took custody of her daughter and gave her son to her. Then she learned that her ex-husband’s second wife had taken her wealth and gone to America. Negar’s daughter drowned in the river; and today is her fortieth birthday. Negar wishes to die. She wants to drown herself. The same place where her daughter drowned.
Nyusha; 37 years old. She has been in Turkey for 6 months. She is pregnant. And today is the day she graduates.
All three sisters are in their apartments, which also serve as their workplaces.
And the other woman:
Arzo; 40 years old. She has been living in America for 5 years. She is a family counselor in America; especially counseling for Iranian immigrants. And now she has recently faced tax problems and has transferred her work to the Internet. She works online in her apartment.
Scene:
On the front stage, there are two laptops on two tables. One in front of the stage and the other on the left. During the conversation, three sisters should each come to the front stage; of course, in a way that makes us feel like each of them is in their own home. Three homes in three different countries. They don’t see each other. In fact, all communication is online and people are alone.
The relationships of these people:
The communication between these people is via Skype. And we, the audience, see the entire mindset of these people and their memories on the screen opposite; as well as all their conversations on Skype. The stage lighting changes on each part of the three houses. But the left side, which is Arezo’s house, is always on.
And every time the sisters connect to Arezo’s Skype, an advertising clip to introduce Arezo to the other party begins to introduce the specifications of Arezo’s office. This advertising clip, which opens automatically and we hear its voice, also has affirmative and motivating sentences that, after a few times, we, the other audience, think we get a little bored and bored.
In the middle of the play, we find out that Arezo is actually Negar’s second wife after the divorce. And today Arezo herself is also a widow and struggles with illnesses in exile. During the conversation between Negar and Arezo, Negar does not know Arezo’s identity; but Arezo finds out. And in the monologues she has, we also learn about her inner feelings.
These three sisters are from Ahvaz. And Arezo is from Tehran. The memories of these three sisters are all around their father’s house near the Karun River and the Ahvaz Bridge. And Arezo’s memories are from the alleys of District 12 of Tehran. The older sister, Narges, has memories of the pre-revolutionary era, and when she went to college, she would wear long hair and denim skirts. And her photos and memories are in that style of clothing. And her way of thinking and the husband she had are all consistent with that era. Even now that she lives in the Netherlands, she hasn’t changed much in terms of her appearance. The middle sister, Negar, wore a hijab with the enthusiasm she had at the beginning of the revolution and burned all the photos of her adolescence, and she still wears a hijab, a scarf, and a cloak, even though she lives in Canada. And as for Nyusha, who is the younger sister, she has been hallucinating for a few weeks. She has had this hallucination many times before. But now, for two or three weeks, he has been seeing those two shadows behind him completely (the two shadows he sees, we also see on the screen facing him, and this requires special lighting and precise direction to switch the images on the screen).
A glass of water and several sleeping pills are on Nyusha’s table. Arzoo has guessed that she is going to commit suicide from the very beginning. Arzoo tries her best to save Nyusha. With motivational sentences and all kinds of ineffective exercises and advice. She doesn’t succeed, and Nyusha just asks him to tell her sisters.
They each come on stage when they hear the sound of the laptop ringing.
Explanation:
In this play, we have a glimpse of Michael Cunningham’s novel The Hours. And Reza Ghasemi’s novel The Harmony of the Nights of the Orchestra of Woods.
Draft play plan:
The play begins with Nyusha. And the relationship she tries to have with Arusha.
At the very beginning, Nyusha pays the entire consultation fee. And then at the end of the play, Nyusha transfers her entire bank balance to Arusha’s account; to be spent on charity.
Nyusha talks about her arrival in Turkey. And how the father of the child she is carrying did not agree to their official marriage. And how difficult it has been for her during these 6 and a half months that she has been in Turkey. And she talks about the Iranian border that as soon as they reached the Turkish border, all their clothes were changed on the plane. This is so complicated for her that she cannot accept it. This is one of the key points of this play. Nyusha, who went to school with a white and then a black veil throughout her elementary and high school years, who has always experienced two kinds of clothes, is longing for uniformity. She has always been looking for uniformity. She feels that Arif has cheated on her. Arif was her great-uncle.
When Nyusha asks Arzoo to tell her sisters after she hasn’t heard from her, that she committed suicide, and that the reason is longing for a certain color, and the reason is the shadows that are constantly around her, and the reason is a child that she changed her mind about not giving birth to in the last days of her pregnancy. And the reason is also lack of money and poverty, which makes her think about how much she has to work to earn a piece of bread. And her little capital will soon run out.
Anyway, there is no news from Nyusha for a while, and Arzoo calls Narges and Negar. Of course, after that, Nyusha herself tells Arzoo that she didn’t dare and fell asleep. This back and forth is repeated several times.
Narges also has her own words. She has experienced a difficult life in Ahvaz, and her life in America has not improved much for 39 years now. And she is still subject to various social storms. Narges also doesn’t understand what her true identity is. She is always trying to discover her own face. She begins her memoirs with her mother’s votive tables. And also the prayer that every month at the beginning of the lunar month, a man wearing a skullcap and a robe would come and recite. Even if no one sat at her sermon, her mother would still invite her every month. And she knew it was a blessing. She talks about her aunts’ cooking. And all the memories she had as a child. Sweet memories. And she talks about her immigration. And that she didn’t feel good all this time.
And Negar, who had many problems. And she talks about her memories with her ex-husband. And she doesn’t realize that Arezo was his second wife. And only we realize this secret at the same time as Arezo herself. One of Negar’s problems is that she wears a veil and here in Canada, in her own words, she has become a finger in the eye. Negar is intertwined with the ideology of her life.
We see all the memories that these sisters describe, as well as Arezo’s past memories in the form of photos and films. We see the city of Ahvaz at different times. And Tehran. And other cities. Streets, bridges, shops, people.
The end of the play ends with the ringing of doorbells in all three houses. The doorbell of Nyusha’s house is rung by a hospital ambulance driver. The doorbell of Negar’s house is rung by a nursing home driver. And the doorbell of Narges’s house is rung by a courier from a flower shop. All three are coordinated by Arzoo. Arzoo herself is now trapped in depression and mental stress.
In this play we want to focus on the question, “What are we like?” So all aspects of Iranian culture that have changed over time in recent decades will be considered. A detailed review of cultural history.
During the intervals of this play, the song Sima Bina will be played from laptops.
Song I Wasn’t Crazy by Sima Bina
Which mountain and waist smells of you, my friend
Which moon shines on you, my friend
The same moon that shines on my friend’s head from the Qiblah
The arch of your eyebrows shows, my friend
I wasn’t crazy, you made me crazy
You threw me out of my own city
I wasn’t crazy, you made me crazy
You threw me out of my own city
But girl, your hair is messy, my friend
You’re going to the bathroom, your way is round, my friend
You’re going to the bathroom, come soon, my friend
The fire in my heart is like an oven, my friend
I wasn’t crazy, you made me crazy
You threw me out of my own city
The star in the sky is the background, my friend
I myself am my ring, my friend, my jewel, my friend
O God, keep me, be a jewel, my friend
That is the first and last, my friend
I wasn’t crazy, you made me crazy
You threw me out of my own city
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.