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 Nineteen
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 nineteenth
Etude 119
Short film
In the first sequence, the scenes inside the school and the park outside the school merge in parallel.
Inside the girls’ elementary school, there is a student worship ceremony. The mothers are also there. And usually with their daughters. The awards and rituals of this celebration, and the speeches of the principal and deputy principal, and along with all this, an educational film is shown, which teaches the girls’ homework. In one of the scenes in the film, there is a reference to the lack of hijab and the lack of hijab, and in a shot there is a shot of a woman’s short pants and ankles. Zoha’s attention is also drawn to this scene. Zoha is sitting next to her mother. And like all the girls in this ceremony, on her white veil, there is an artificial flower crown with the school logo in the middle of the crown. And the students have also been given dolls that are fully hijab. None of their hair is visible.
On the other hand, what happened in the park next to the school is that a young woman wearing shorts, and we first saw her legs and the look of the two boys with chains on her hands, we realize that the two boys have been teasing this woman, and there is a commotion in the park and sweat on her forehead as she leaves the party and people are scolding the boys.
We continue along the same street. The ceremony is over and the mothers and daughters have come out of the school. The children’s veils are black. Zoha’s mother is coming. And Zoha has to come a little faster behind her mother with her small steps. The mother is holding a pink bag, a wreath of artificial flowers, and a veiled doll. The two come from the right of the scene. On the other side, the woman in shorts comes from the left of the frame. These shots merge. Until one moment on the sidewalk, the two women collide because of a large tree that has cut the sidewalk in half, and their trunks get stuck together.
Without any introduction, Zoha’s mother begins to command the woman: “Madam, don’t you think you shouldn’t throw out those white legs of yours?” And similar conversations. The woman gets nervous. And wipes the sweat from her forehead. And leaves with suppressed anger; Zoha’s mother remains unanswered. And a strong greed takes over her entire being.
Zoha, however, has been hiding behind her mother’s veil during these difficult moments.
After the woman leaves, Zoha pulls her mother’s veil with childish fear and, as if she wants to reveal a secret, says in a low, shy and timid voice: “Mom, that lady was our sports teacher; Ms. Farhadi. I hid so she wouldn’t see me.”
The mother, who is shocked by Zoha’s words, does not believe her at first and when Zoha swears, she whispers, “Then we have to tell your manager.” The mother feels a great sense of duty at these moments.
In the following scenes, we find out that the students are without a teacher at the sports bell. And the principal is desperate. And the phone call with Mrs. Farhadi is angry because Mrs. Farhadi suddenly made a firm decision to stop coming to school and resigned from everything. In the group of students whose assistant is somehow entertaining them, we see Zoha, who is sad, worried, and scared. She is afraid that her mother’s words to Mrs. Farhadi have caused her to stop coming to school; and she is even hesitant that the school itself will agree with Mrs. Farhadi’s departure; whispers are heard among the students; news has leaked from the principal’s room.
Some time passes and we witness the life of Zoha and her family, who have a good social class. And also the life of Mrs. Farhadi, whose culture and social class make it clear that her elderly parents have always had property. But for years, her father has been unemployed and this family has been constantly selling sex. Today they are busy selling a bookcase, a sideboard, and a desk. Who will set the price?
On the other hand, there are developments in Zoha’s house, which is a small house and everything smells new. Zoha’s father, who is an airport customs officer, has been accepted to university and wants to buy a second-hand bookcase and desk for the celebration that is going to be held to celebrate his acceptance. He contacts several places via the Internet. Among them is Ms. Farhadi’s father’s house. Through the virtual network, he sees the desk, bookcase, and sideboard and likes it, and they arrange to go and see it up close.
Zoha’s mother tells her not to go alone and to take Zoha with her.
At Ms. Farhadi’s house, when a customer comes to buy something, Ms. Farhadi’s mother opens the door. She shows the goods. And there is also a conversation about the sideboard. And Zoha’s father decides to take the opportunity and buy the sideboard too. He contacts Ms. And he also expresses his satisfaction; and says, by the way, in the picture I saw, I wanted to go, but you didn’t tell me to buy this buffet too. And in short, we understand how much he respects his husband. And he is interested. Meanwhile, Mrs. Farhadi comes out of her room without warning to enter into a conversation with the customer. As soon as she enters the reception hall, Zoha recognizes Mrs. Farhadi who has come in her home clothes; that is, no headscarf on her head. The same pants she wore on the street; with a normal blouse. And her hair tied back. Zoha goes to her gym teacher with her childish laugh and is excited. Mrs. Farhadi is at first taken aback. She wants to pull herself together. But she quickly interacts with Zohadi. She hugs her. She kisses her and is kind. Zoha’s father is shocked.
It is at this point that Zoha realizes that Mrs. Farhadi wants to emigrate and go abroad. In this scene, Ms. Farhadi’s father has also arrived. He seems to be a very honorable man who is unfortunately sad. Because he has no source of income at this old age. And the only source of income for his family is through this girl. She has taught in several schools. And although she studied medical equipment engineering, she became a sports teacher because she couldn’t find a job, and she is also a translator. But she has had a good income. But she feels homesick and suddenly wants to leave her parents alone and leave her homeland. She has made up her mind to go abroad and has done all her work.
Zoha’s father watches these conversations like a moviegoer. And finally, he says goodbye to go get a pickup truck and take the goods she bought. And on the stairs, the look between Zoha and her father is visible. When they come from Ms. Farhadi’s father’s beautiful old house, the father’s look at his daughter says a lot. Zoha’s big heart is strange to him. That a gym teacher can insinuate himself into a child’s heart like this, even though they are culturally different. And that the child doesn’t care about things that are important to adults.
The final sequence is at the airport gate. Where Ms. Farhadi wants to give her luggage and have her departure card stamped. The officer standing there behind the counter is Zoha’s father. The look between the two is interesting. And the greeting that Ms. Farhadi gives. And the question of how Zoha is doing. And the question of whether you are satisfied with the library and the desk? And all this to the astonishment of Zoha’s father. And this long and drawn-out scene with the hesitation of whether to take the luggage or not and whether to stamp the departure card or not. And the others who have now come behind Ms. Farhadi and a line of several people has formed. And finally, Mr. Farhadi’s hand stamps the departure card. And that’s it
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.